


Eyes Wide Opened

by Nestle25



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Dream isn't gonna be awake anytime soon, Error and Blue are exes, Error really doesn't want to be here, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fluff, Ink has no mercy, Ink is a Jerk, Its kinda akward, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Nightmare might be a bit jealous, Poor Blue, Red is a nervous wreck, everyone is stressed, killer is a total tease, no one gets a break, stretch just wants to be a good brother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:15:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 32,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27533611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nestle25/pseuds/Nestle25
Summary: After a tiring battle with Nightmares gang, Ink and Blue find themselves stuck with a sleeping Dream, broken bones, and so much more. Blue starts to see Inks true colors and just how much he is willing to do to get his way. Nightmare on the other hand notices Blues fighting spirit and it intrigues him, leading to some revelations and new relationships.
Relationships: Nightmare/Blue- relationship, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Red/Sci, Sans/Sans (Undertale), Slight Errorberry - Relationship, nightberry
Comments: 92
Kudos: 164





	1. What A Lovely Day

**Author's Note:**

> Well hi there I've never uploaded my writing before so I'm hoping it's okay, advice for writing is really appreciated!!

Blue woke up from his race car bed and headed down stairs to start breakfast, he had some royal guard duty with Alphys but that could wait. He went to the fridge and decided to make an omelet for his brother and himself. Papyrus opened his door and headed down stairs groggy from just getting up and he lazily sat in the kitchen chair.  
“Morning Papy!”  
“Mm.. morning bro..”  
Blue playfully frowned at him as he put an omelet on a plate and passed it to papyrus who ate it happily. He decided he would start making better food since It seemed making tacos wasn't his calling. It didn't bother Blue as he knew he would get better eventually, for now at least the eggs tasted good.  
“Hey bro are you hanging out with your friends today?”  
“Mm? Oh! You mean Ink and Dream? They are both very busy today so I wont bother them. I am going to be with Alphys today.”  
“Okay sounds good bro.” Papyrus said as he finished his omelet, he grabbed his plate as well as Blues when he was done and went to wash dishes.  
“PAPY I'M GOING TO GET READY!” Blue screamed as he rushed up stairs in excitement. Even though Blue goes out a lot now, he was still excited to be with people who actually wanted him around. He put on his outfit and slipped on his blue bandana. He looked at himself in the mirror and fought to leave as he wanted to stare at himself forever. He felt so happy, he looked happy, he was happy. 

Blue dashed downstairs and went to hug his brother before he left, who happily returned the hug before stopping his brother. “Hey don't get into any trouble okay bro?”  
“Okay papy I'll be fine, I promise!”

The coldness in the air hit him instantly as he stepped outside. It was way colder than usual, he thought, as he headed to hotland, He went to the boat that River Person rode. He asked for a ride and sat on the back as the river person sang a tune to himself. He loved when river person sang even if it creeped people out. He stopped at the entrance of hotland, Blue got out and thanked river person. River Person told him something in his quite whisper of a voice “Love can be found in the most scariest people.” Blue turned around in confusion but only saw water in front of him.

He shook it off and headed towards alphys and undyne’s place. They lived in separate houses, but they had sleepovers almost every single day so Blue forgot where each person originally lived. He went to the entrance of the lab, knocked and waited patiently for someone to open the door.  
“Hey Blue!” Alphys said happily as Blue smiled back.  
“Hi Alphys! You ready for training?”  
“Boy am I ! I bench pressed the whole bed all night!”  
Unydne came downstairs with her hand on her hip, “Yes she did do that and I barely got any sleep because of it.”  
Blue laughed at Alphys antics and said to her happily “Yeah, I bet she did do that! I did about 1,000 squats last night,” Blue boasted. The two said goodbye to Undyne as they went to go to waterfall to train for the day.

The whole time Blue and Alphys trained, pushing themselves to the brink and eventually tiring themselves out.  
“I won the push up contest.” Alphys said proudly.  
“What? No way!” Blue protested and he got in a push up position.  
“Lets do this again, all or nothing.” Blue said as seriously as he could as Alphys smiled following Blues lead.  
“All right nerd, let's have a rematch!”

Just then Blues phone rang, he picked it up seeing it was Ink calling. “Oh I'm sorry Alphys hold on I'm getting a call.” Alphys waved him off as she did some push ups with one arm trying to show off, he rolled his eyes to her and answered.  
“Hi Ink what's up-”  
“Nightmareandhisgangareattackingauniverseandmeanddreammaybecorneredandweneedyourhelpblue!” Ink said as fast as he could. Blue had no idea what Ink was saying, but figured they needed help.

Blue left Alphys and used his magic to detect the location of Ink and Dream. He teleported to a fellswap universe where he saw his friends fighting his enemies. Dream faced head on with Nightmare as arrows were shot and tentacles swirled in the air. Ink was on the other side taking on Dust, Horror, and Killer as his body was scratched up and sliced. They both seemed so weak and their attacks slowed. They were losing and Blue was the last man standing. He ran and summoned a bunch of bones at Dust, Horror, and Killer who jumped in surprise.  
“Blue!” Dream screamed happily as he was thrown into a tree by Nightmare who laughed at the negativity coming from his brother, Blue threw some bones at Nightmare who easily dodged them. Killer ran behind Blue and dug his knife into his back, he screamed in pain as he punched Killer in the face as hard as he could bringing him down fast.

Nightmare decided to sit back and watch as if it were a movie, he was definitely enjoying himself as Blue fought his boys in a panic. Dust summoned a few bones at him as Horror rushed behind the bones with his axe in hand, Blue doges the bones skillfully as he tried to move away from the axe but was not so quick. The axe cranked his left shoulder blade as a hard cracking sound was heard, fighting back the urge to cry he summoned a bone hitting the axe to keep the distance. Dust ran to Blue with a bone in hand with a very sharp ends, he went to stab blue in the chest but missed as a bone hit him in the face knocking him down. Suddenly everything stopped, no more fighting, Dust felt himself stop as Nightmare calmly walked behind Blue.

Why did Dust stop attacking? Blue though as he saw his friends, Ink was down but it seemed he was okay other than that, Dream was next to a tree that was broken in half by him getting hurdled to it. He was definitely out of commission for a while he told himself as he heard footsteps right behind him. He whipped around summoning a bone he thrust to the thing behind him only to have a tentacle stop him. He was suddenly enwrapped in tentacles as Nightmare smirked at him. “I'm honestly impressed, even Ink couldn't do as much damage as you did Blue.”  
“Let me go! You already won this battle, what more do you want?” He screamed as he kicked his legs around trying to pry himself out. Nightmare shrugged lazily and looked back to his brother, he went to grab him as well with a tentacle. Blue looked to Nightmare in fear as he struggled even more to get out of his grip, he bit the tentacle as hard as he could as Nightmare slammed Blue down to the snow with a thud.  
He huffed to him and grabbed his boys, they teleported away leaving Blue with Ink and Dream. 

“Boss what happened??” Cross said in a panic as Nightmare gently placed everyone on the couch, he almost looked annoyed as he thought of Blue and how much his tentacle hurt now.  
Cross grabbed a huge batch of healing gel and coated his hands with it as he massaged it in all of his friends' wounds, when he finished he moved to Nightmare who waved him off.  
“Boss please let me heal you, I can see your wounds and they are bad.” He reluctantly allowed Cross to examine them as he put healing gel on it, however one mark stopped him as he looked at it closer.  
“Did.. something bite you?” He asked confused as Nightmare pulled the tentacle back in embarrassment. “That is none of your business, you asked to heal me so just do it I need to go to my study room anyways." He said annoyed as Cross did what he was told.

“Blue thank you so much for coming last minute.” Ink said tiredly as Dream laid on the couch sleeping. They were all covered in bandages as the battle really took a toll on them, Blues shoulder was pretty much broken, no shattered was the word as it had been torn into pieces by the strength of the axe. They were not able to properly help the people in swapfell but they did all they could at the moment. Blue smiled to Ink and passed him a chocolate bar from the cabinet in the doodlesphere. This was where Dream and Ink lived, Blue would visit a lot once he was introduced to them after being captured by Error a while back. 

Ink ate as he turned his attention towards Dream who was unfazed by eyes on him. They both looked worried over their friend, Blue grabbed a wash cloth and put it under cold water then went to put it on Dreams head. The thoughts of the battle made Blue get nervous, what did Nightmare even mean when he was saying he was strong? He certainly didn't feel very strong, especially against him. Was he trying to complement him or intimidate him? He was overthinking again as he found himself fiddling with his scarf just thinking about it.

“Hey Blue are you okay?”  
“Yeah I was just thinking about some stuff… no worries though I am A-Okay!”  
“Alright if you say so.”

Ink got up and threw away the wrapper as he grabbed his brush, he whipped around to Blue and said excitedly “Hey let's not focus on the negative, it's only what Nightmare wants and we can't let Dream down.”  
Blue smiled to Ink and gave him a pat on the shoulder agreeing with him “you’re right we just got to stay positive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Blue had a pretty eventful day..
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Bad idea

Nightmare woke up very oddly. Usually he is causing mayhem with his boys and messing with his stupid brother, but something felt off about today. He walked into the living room where Horror was sitting on the couch watching TV.  
“Good morning Horror, may you turn the news on for me?”  
“Sure boss.” The skeleton with a hole in his skull said as he flipped through channels landing on the news.  
“This just in, it appears one of the Star Sanses is in a coma. Right now we will be talking with the last two remaining Star Sanses to give us some more info,” The news bunny monster said. Most of the news was reported in a pacifist original Undertale AU so it was pretty easy to find the channel. The camera pans to Ink and Blue but Dream is nowhere to be found. They both seemed pretty tense as the camera did a close up on them. Ink grabbed a microphone and began to speak. “Thank you, now Dream is very injured from our last battle with Nightmare and his gang. Blue and I will of course take care of everything while Dream is recovering but we are asking that everyone stay calm and positive so Dream can get back to full health.” With that the camera faded and went to report the weather.

“I really did get Dream good this time.”  
“You sure did boss, you knocked him into a tree.” Horror chuckled as Nightmare smirked at him. Thinking back to the battle he found himself focused on Blue, he was pretty strong and to him he was the least annoying between his brother and that colorful idiot. He would definitely make a great member of his team, he thought.

“Hey boss, I'm going to get started on breakfast.” Horror said as he made his way to the kitchen, Nightmare nodded to him and headed to his office. Sitting on his desk he got out some unfinished paperwork and started to jot down some things on the important papers. His mind kept wandering back to Blue and how important he felt to him. Blue is the perfect soldier in his eyes, he had the determination to do it. He didn't know how Blue would be acting with some of his gang mates, most of his boys had come from hard backgrounds, things normal people would never be able to ever make it out alive from. He was so glad to have helped them out of their troubles, though they carried a lot of trauma with them because of it. If only Ink stopped making worlds this would not have happened. He only cared about making worlds but he didn't care about the people that lived there, he only cared if it existed. 

It angered Nightmare and fueled him more into causing a scene just to piss him off. He never outwardly showed it to his boys because they had enough to deal with.   
Just then a knock was heard from the door, a tentacle opened the handle and Killer came in.  
“Hey boss breakfast is ready...are you okay?” Killer asked quietly as Nightmare had a scowl on his face.  
“I'm fine just thinking of something.”  
“Is it about Dream? Horror told us what was on the news.” Killer got closer and sat on the chair opposite Nightmare.  
“It's okay to be upset. I know you still care about him, even if he doesn't feel the same way anymore.” Nightmare looked at Killer with a softer face, he was happy his boys cared but, he shouldn't say anything.  
“I'm fine Killer, thank you for checking on me.” Nightmare said sweetly as he got up, they both went to the kitchen and ate breakfast.

Blue started to think more about how Ink and himself were going to take care of Nightmares gang on their own. Dream was the only one who could really go face to face with Nightmare. Ink was probably more willing to go against him, but then again he got taken down by the others. He now was nervous thinking about it but he was at home, he was safe. 

“Hey bro come down here. Who's going to help eat all this popcorn and watch all these movies?” Papyrus yelled from down stairs as Blue finished putting on his pjs. He raced down the stairs and sat next to papyrus, they spent the whole night watching movies and eating popcorn. It had been forever since he had good times with his brother, because he was either with Ink and Dream or Alphys. He didn't really take into account how Papyrus felt about it, but he hoped he was glad he finally had some friends after so long. After the movie Papyrus watched Blue walk upstairs before he spoke up.   
“Hey bro I need to talk to you real quick.”  
“Yeah what's wrong Papy?” He patted the side of the couch for Blue to sit. Papyrus put his hand on Blues skull and rubbed it.  
“So do you have to go out every time with Ink and Dream? I mean you've been coming home with bruises and you cry in your room every time you come back from hanging out with them. I just want to make sure you are safe.” He said it in a concerned tone as he wanted his brother to understand his concern. Blue looked down at his lap and held his scarf, he fidgeted with it as he thought of all the things he had seen.  
“It's okay Papy, sometimes I just have a bit of a hard time, but it's okay I have fun and everything is okay!” Blue said dramatically. Papyrus definitely did not believe him but just gave up, Blue went to his room to go to sleep. 

Things kept raining in Nightmares mind as the day passed and he laid on his bed reading a book. He wondered what his boys were up to as Killer said he wanted a sleepover with his gang mates. They invited Nightmare to join but he declined, still tired from the fight. It usually took a day or two for Nightmare to feel better, his boys were always okay because he made sure of it. He wondered how Blue was able to get Ink and Dream home on his own, he was strong but he couldn't be that strong right? Wait, why was he still thinking about Blue? He mentaly slapped himself as he tried to refocus on the book, a romance. He put it down instantly and tried to sleep but couldn't. He went to the living room where the rest of the gang was watching a horror movie. He ended up joining them to everyone's delight as he tried to relax.

After the movie they all ended up snuggling onto the couch, Nightmare of course still couldn't sleep as he sat up and held his head in his hands. Dust tried to sleep but was woken up by Nightmare, he turned to him and sat up as well.  
“Boss are you alright?”  
“I'm fine.”  
Killer got up and turned to Nightmare “No you’re not.”  
Suddenly Horror sleepily spoke “What's your damage?” As Dust slowly nudged Horrors head back into the pillow to which he fell right back to sleep.  
Cross finally put a hand on Nightmares shoulder and looked at him worriedly  
“Is it Dream-”  
“ITS BLUE OKAY ITS BLUE!” Nightmare screeched as everyone sprung up in shock.  
“...”  
“I think I want him to join our group.”  
“Are you sure that's all you want boss~” Killer teased as a tentacle slapped his mouth shut. His face was a cyan blue as he looked down in embarrassment. They all seemed a bit worried but almost happy for Nightmare as they all smiled at him.   
“Boss it's alright we get it.” Horror said  
“Yeah is there anything we can do to make things better for you?” Dust followed.  
“Oh oh I know!” Killer interrupted as he stepped in front of Nightmare   
“Let's kidnap Blue!”  
“...What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare-"Killer I don't you to do anything okay?"  
> Killer-"Okay Boss!"  
> Nightmare- Eyes Killer intensely "...Okay.."


	3. Good introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Killer really just wants everyone to be happy, even if it means kidnapping your enemy

A few days had passed and Blue slept peacefully as the night covered his room, it was a bit messy but he'd clean it later. Papyrus slept on the couch as usual. It was an even more chilly night than usual as the wind threw itself at Blues window, shadows danced around the house as a group of unknown skeletons looked through windows. They were covered in black to hide their identities, they looked at Papyrus who was blissfully unaware of the intruders. A skeleton with an ax put the handle to a window and proceed to slowly crack it open. They would have teleported but the magic and energy they would have to use would alert Papyrus as he was the judge in this universe. The crack was big enough to where one of them with a knife slowly unhooked the window, it opened and they slowly tip-toed inside. They walked past Papyrus while keeping an eye on him just in case as they started to slowly walk up the stairs, when they reached Blues door they opened it very carefully. Blue was still on his bed, unmoved by the small sounds that were heard through his room as the boys got closer to him. One of them reached in his pocket to grab tape, he got very close to Blue and hovered a piece of tape over his mouth. Something was bothering Blue as he slowly started to stir in his sleep, he was waking up and they realized this. One of them grabbed a small bag from their pocket and put a pink powder on his hand, Blue’s eyes opened as he bounced in shock, they tousled as the tape was put over his mouth.  
He struggled to get out of the grip, he felt four hands holding down his legs and arms as the powder was blown on his face. Suddenly the struggling stopped as Blue’s eyes started to close, he fought to stay up but his eyes seemed to not take his side.

The boys decided it would be okay to teleport so they did, leaving an empty bedroom and a broken window in the process. Papyrus slowly woke up to the feeling of magic being used, he got up as something didn't feel right. He tried to shrugged it off and went to the kitchen where he stopped dead in his tracks to see a broken window, his heart dropped as he raced to Blues room screaming his name. He threw open the door to only see an empty bed and things thrown around the room, he fell to his knees and clutched his chest breathing very heavy and fast.

“BLUE!!”

“Boss we got a present for you!”Killer said happily as Horror had Blue in his arms, Cross was trying to not touch his face because of the power all over his hands and Dust just held Horror’s ax for him. Nightmare was taken back seeing Blue, he was surprised that his boys were willing to kidnap someone for him but he figured it was all Killers idea.   
“So you want me to put him in your bed boss~?” Killer asked as he got shot a glance from Nightmare.   
“Did you have to kidnap our enemy?”   
“Yes,” Killer said happily, walking off before he could get lectured.  
“Just put him in the guest room and lock the door from the outside, I'll talk to him tomorrow.” Nightmare continued.  
Blue was taken to a very nice guest room, there were silk pillows stacked near the headboard in a white case. The blanket was very fluffy and almost seemed weighted as he was tucked in by Horror, he clung onto a pillow that was put between his arms. 

“Okay he’s fucking adorable.” Horror said as dust sighed to him “ Can we just go please its three in the morning.” They both left closing the door, Dust put a key in the hole and locked it.

Nightmare laid in bed and looked to the ceiling with a smile creeping on his face, all the things he wanted were right in his vicinity. He had Blue and there was nothing anyone could do about it, he would still have to talk to Killer about kidnapping enimies though. Without Dream and Blue, Ink was helpless and there was nothing he could do, he assumed Papyrus already knew so soon there would be a search party for him. It wasn't like they would be able to find them as the universe they were in was hidden away thanks to a certain glitchy skeleton. He finally drifted off to sleep excited for tomorrow.

The pillows were surrounding Blue as he sat up and rubbed his skull looking around, this was definitely not his room. He sprung up from the bed and bolted to the door, he grasped the handle and tried his best to open it but to no avail. He kicked it and threw his body to it multiple times trying to pry it open, he banged the door causing a lot of loud noises. 

The door made an odd noise and it swung open, a tentacle knocked Blue to the ground and pinned him on the floor. He struggled under the grip of the tentacle. He panicked feeling tears on the corner of his eyes, his breath started to stagger as he felt himself shake. He started to cry out loud as he stopped struggling and just held the tentacle, he felt the grip loosening.   
“Woah Woah hey calm down, I'm not going to hurt you.”

Blue opened his eyes to meet Nightmares who almost looked worried?   
“I don't trust you.”  
“You don't have to just breathe, you're having a panic attack.” Nightmare pointed out as Blue tried to control his breathing, he felt bad for him as he went to go sit on the bed. He clung to a pillow to cover his face, the shaking slowed but it was still there. 

They waited together and Nightmare sat on the end of the bed looking away from Blue, he wanted to give him some time to adjust. After a while, Blue finally calmed down but refused to move from the bed. Nightmare got closer and patted his back with his tentacle but immediately took it back once Blue was staring at him.

“Are you calm now?”  
“Yes, I'm fine now.”  
“Okay, then if you don't mind, we're gonna go meet the others since they will just barge in anyways.”  
Blue felt his anxiety rise as he mentioned the others, they literally kidnapped him. He reluctantly got up from the bed and walked out with Nightmare unsure of how they'd react to him.

Nightmare left the room first to see who was out, thankfully it was just Cross and Dust. He hoped they would be friendly to Blue, he began to call out to them and motions for them to come into the room.

“Hey, boys come here and say hello to Blue.”  
Cross peaked through to see Blue standing right near the door. He waved to Blue as he took a step inside, Dust followed suite and stayed farther away.  
“Hey Blue have we met before?” Cross asked sarcastically as Blue chuckled to himself nervously.  
“Maybe we have, I'm not sure.” He answered trying to smirk at him, Dust smiled and walked just a bit closer.  
“Kinda weird how you’re in our base now.” Dust added, Blue looked at him annoyed.  
“Yeah, it is weird huh? Wonder how I even got here in the first place?”  
Dust's smile dropped and he just glared at him, Cross laughed and put his arm on Dust's shoulder.  
“Haha yeah I wonder how you got here too, must be quite the sleepwalker huh?”

Nightmare glanced out the hallway to see Killer and Horror making their way to the room, he knew Killer would probably make a stupid joke, mentally preparing himself until they came down.

“Oh, boss what did you and Blue do earlier~”  
“What's that supposed to mean?” Blue asked, generally confused.  
“It means did you and Nightmare fuck once he came in?” Horror interjected  
“Came in…” Killer said quietly as his face started to turn red, he covered his mouth as tears started forming in the corner of his eyes. He tried to stifle his laughter but failed, he burst out laughing and fell to the floor mumbling the words to himself over and over.  
Blue felt his face heat up and turned to Nightmare who had his hands to his head, not even trying to look at anything or 

Once Killer was finally able to stand up, both Horror and himself gave proper hello to Blue and left, it was just Blue and Nightmare again. Blue realized he didn't have his phone on him, he looked out the window and opened the blinds where it was a nice morning sky. He turned to Nightmare and asked for the time.  
“It’s 10 in the morning.”  
“Oh no I need to get home to my brother, he's probably worried sick.” Blue said in a panic as he walked past Nightmare, he looked around his surroundings and went to the kitchen. Nightmare followed close behind trying to see what he was doing, Blue spotted a door that looked like the entrance.  
“Oh you’re trying to leave, well good luck.” Nightmare said to Blue as he tried to summon his magic. For some reason it wasn't working, Blue kept trying but it made him more frustrated as he couldn’t even summon a bone. He just opened the door and knew this was not close to any AU he had ever been in, it was way more gloomy and the atmosphere practically suffocated him with all the negativity. 

Realizing he couldn't get home he walked back inside and pushed Nightmare as soon as he walked back in, he snarled at him leaving a bad taste in Nightmares mouth as he saw the small skeleton look at him with anger.

“How do I leave.”

“I don't think I should tell you.” Nightmare simply said

Blue got even madder and went right in front of nightmares face with his blue eyes going out leaving dark empty sockets “How do I leave.” 

Nightmare was very impressed with him… and amused as Blue tried to be as intimidating as he could be, which made him laugh seeing as he was more powerful than him. 

“It depends, what are you going to do to find out?” He said in a very dark tone moving his face closer to Blue who took a step back nervously. He felt the pressure of Nightmares negativity weighed heavily on him, he laughed to Blue as he stepped even closer. 

“Well?”

“What do you even want from me?” Blue questioned, all Nightmare did was shrug at him and head to the kitchen. He followed curiously as he went to the fridge, grabbing two oranges with a tentacle he passed one to Blue who hesitantly held his hand out. They both started to peel their orange quietly, Blue seemed pretty frustrated as he ate and stared at Nightmare dead in the eyes. 

“Honestly I just want you around.” Nightmare said blankly as he took a bite, looking confused Blue smiled towards him. “Me? You want me? I am not worth your time.” He almost laughed at the statement that Nightmare wanted him around, Nightmare frowned at him and took another bite. He sensed the negativity radiating off of Blue and sighed to himself.

“I saw the way you fight, you are quite impressive.”

“Thank you?”

“Do you even know how to take a compliment?”

“Yes, I just have never been complimented on my fighting before.”

“Get used to it then.”

“Um okay, can I go home now?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Nightmare turned around and went to throw away the orange peel then sat on the couch.

“Because I said so.”

After a while of talking, Blue went back to the guest room to take a nap still feeling a bit drowsy from before. He wouldn't be going home any time soon and he guessed that Papyrus already knew of his absence and sent out an alarm. He hoped that Papyrus would be okay and not get too overstressed but knowing his brother he is probably pacing in the living room.

A knock came from the door as Blue sat at the edge of the bed “Come in.”

Nightmare walked in with a bottle of water, he passed it to Blue who eyed it suspiciously. Nightmare scoffs and puts it on the bed next to Blue.

“Trust me if I wanted you dead you wouldn't be in my nicest guest room.” Nightmare said coldly as Blue drank from the bottle as a show of good faith, he definitely didn't want to keep pushing Nightmare especially because he had the power to dust him right then and there. 

“I still don't understand, do you just want me to join your gang? Because if that's the case you might as well put me in your worst guest room because there's no way I'd even consider joining   
Your group of genociders. Especially because of what tyou did to Dream.”

“You don’t know our relationship.”

“Even if I don’t I can still see how terrible you are to him, which is very unfair.”

Nightmare said nothing to Blue and looked down, he would love for Blue to consider but being realistic he has fought with him, he has seen what he can do. Blue was terrified and Nightmare sensed it, he really didn’t want to think about Dream either. If only he could understand why he did this and what would happen if he didn’t...

“Can I show you something?”

“Are you actually asking?”

“Not really.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit rushed so I apologize for any grammatical errors here. 
> 
> Poor Blue he just wanted to catch some sleep


	4. prove you wrong

There was a smell of death in the air as Blue and Nightmare teleported to a universe, by the looks of it the AU was a Storyshift. Dust laid beneath the area in Hotland as they wandered together, Blue looked worried as he stepped on the dust.

“Nightmare can we just go back? I am not liking it here…”

They continued to walk as two monsters approached, Blue grabbed Nightmares sleeve and held him back.

“Please let's just go, I don't want to watch you kill them…” Blue whispered at the end.

“Who said I was gonna kill them?”

Suddenly one of the bunny monsters lurched forward holding their stomach, the other dog monster got close and held their back comfortingly.

“Yo what's wrong what happened”? The stomach suddenly started to wither away leaving dust, the bunny monster screamed in pain as the dog monster noticed his hand started to disintegrate. He panicked and the bunny monster went to their knees as the dog monster followed suit holding the bunny in their arms until they became a mixed pile of dust and clothes.  
“I love you.” The dog monster whispered as his face disintegrated.

Blue looked on in horror as the scene unfolded, his knees felt like jelly. He didn't even realize Nightmare was holding him up. He tried to reach out to the monster as they said their final words, he was too late as it finally ended. Nightmare allowed him to fall to his knees as he sobbed into his scarf holding it to his face to cover himself, he was comforted by Nightmare as a hand patted his back.

After a moment of trying to not cry when he opened his mouth, he finally asked “What happened.. They were perfectly fine w-weren't they.”

“This is what happens when a world has no space, Ink and Dream allow this to happen; they know exactly what happens when a world has no space to grow and expand.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that there is another world that is close to or has already collided with this world, there can be only one so the weakest will erase itself including the people.”

Blue looked at the dust, it started to spread to the floor as everything seemed to turn to white, Nightmare grabbed Blue and they teleported away as the white covered the place they just were.

They were now back in the guest room where Blue sat on the bed in disbelief. Surely his friends just didn't know what was going on right..? He silently prayed to himself that that was the case and if he just talked to them they would understand. 

Nightmare fed off the negativity allowing Blue’s dark thoughts to drift away letting him finally breathe freely, he looked at him as he pointed to the door.  
“How about we go eat something, you're probably exhausted from seeing that.”

“M-more like traumatized.”

Back in the kitchen Nightmare was busy making lunch for Blue and himself, deciding on making sandwiches he let his tentacles do all the work. Blue watched in amazement as the tentacles went all over the place, grabbing the ingredients, cutting vegetables, and just putting everything together. He had always wondered how the tentacles work, did they have a mind of their own? Could Nightmare feel with it? Do they grow back if one gets cut off? So many questions spun through his mind as he drifted off in thought.

“Lunch is done.”  
Blue snapped out of it and the food looked really nice and both were also different as one had lettuce, tomato, cheese, and ham. The other had cheese, ham, tomato, and an egg placed perfectly in the middle. Blue looked in awe as his stomach growled at him to eat already. Blue looked up to Nightmare who just started waiting for him.  
“Um thank you Nightmare but which one is mine?”  
“Any you want.”  
Blue picked the one with the egg and devoured it trying to savor the taste but was too hungry to take his time, Nightmare watched amusingly as he passed his plate to Blue who waved him off.  
“You need to eat Nightmare.”  
“Yes but it seems you need to eat more than me, plus I need to clear some things up from earlier.”  
Blue stomach sank as he reminded him of the now destroyed world, he slowly grabbed the last remaining sandwich and ate quietly as Nightmare spoke.

“I take care of everyone in my gang, they were all castaway and forgotten by everyone else. They were abandoned and some driven to insanity, Dust for instance, he saw his whole world get destroyed by the human so many times that it finally broke him. Killed everyone in his world to be the strongest including his brother, he did it but at what cost? He was all alone left to his own misery as he dwelled on what he had done, soon that manifested into a ‘ghost’ Papyrus encouraging him to kill even more.”

Blue sat still as Nightmare spoke calmly about his boys, he thought there was no real care just getting the job done and that's it, he thought he only kept them there so they would do his bidding. 

“I found Dust because of his negativity, it was very overpowering and it took a while to convince him that I was real and not just in his head, eventually he got to meet Killer and Horror but had a hard time adjusting at first.” Nightmare smiled to himself as he finished talking.

“But he's been doing well after a while and he's just part of the family now, I couldn't imagine a life without my boys by my side.” Nightmare said fondly as he turned to Blue.

“We don't want to kill but it's the only way they won't die of immense pain, once a person is in a place where everything is being destroyed your insides will burn and turn into dust. It seems to feel like you just had a bunch of acid poured into your stomach. We try to make it as quick as possible just so we could save the time and pain that goes with it.” Nightmare said sympathetically as Blue stared at him. He reached out and put a hand on Nightmare's shoulder.

“I didn't know you cared so much,” Blue said to him as he stacked the plates together. “I really thought that you were all just causing chaos just to cause chaos, I didn't know there was a real reason for it. I'm sorry for assuming.”

Nightmare laughed to Blue who looked playfully insulted “Hey! What's so funny?”

“It's just that you apologized, I mean you had no idea. Ink and Dream said all those things to you and all the things you've seen, of course you're going to think we kill just to kill.”

“Yes but that's wrong! I really don't know that much about you and everyone else so how am I supposed to feel good knowing I was wrong.”

“Don't blow a fuse Blue I hold no hard feelings towards anyone, no one seems to want to even acknowledge the fact that we are all damaged in some way.” Nightmare said.

"Well, I'm glad you aren't doing this because you enjoy it but did you have to show me?" Blue asked as Nightmare shrugged.

"You wouldn't have believed me if I told you so I showed you instead," Hre said plainly as he grabbed the two empty plates. Suddenly there are screams and gasps coming from the living room.

"Oh my god, we're dead!"

"Well, it was nice knowing all of you..."

"See? I knew this would happen."

The three skeletons complained looking at the TV. Killer tried to grab the popcorn from Cross who held it high in the air.

"Dude we have a serious emergency and you want popcorn?"

"..Yes?" Killer said as he slapped Cross's knee, he got on top of Cross and snatched the popcorn, and went back to the opposite side of the couch. Dust scoffed at both of them and took a picture of the screen.

"So who's gonna tell Nightmare?" 

"NOSE GOES!" Killer screamed as they all immediately placed their finger at their nose and looked to Horror who put his up last. 

"Oh dammit.." He mumbles as he got up and headed to the kitchen. 

“Hey Blues on TV.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare is going the wrong way about this...
> 
> Thank you for reading


	5. reassurance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh I forgot to add, Papyrus will be called Stretch from now on just for convenience

“Breaking news, it seems the Star Sanses are in complete disarray as one member has gone missing.” The TV blared as everyone sat on the couch, Blues face popped up on the screen as the reporter gave in more details of the disappearance.

“Now here is Ink, and Blues brother Stretch from Underswap.”

Nightmare put a hand on Blues shoulder as he saw Papyrus, he looked destroyed and dead inside as he held Blues outfit. He almost forgot he was still in his PJs this whole time.

“I know this was not just a random kidnapping...I know this was Nightmare and his gang trying to break everyone's spirit, and Nightmare if your watching I will find you and I will get my brother back no matter what.” Papyrus's eyes flared bright orange as he stared straight into the camera.

“You've been warned.”

“Haha thank you stretch, I am still encouraging everyone to stay positive, I know a lot is happening right now and I know right now things are looking a bit bleak. But rest assured we will find Blue and Dream will wake up soon.” Ink said, trying to sound positive but looking stressed as hell. 

Blue looked at the TV and thought of his brother, he looked so bad and couldn't do anything to make him feel better. It was just as bad when he was kidnapped by Error but even then his brother was able to know where Blue was because he had his phone with him, but this time he had nothing to let Papyrus know if he was safe or not.

Everyone felt a ping of guilt as Blues eyes started to tear, Nightmare hugged Blue before everyone else joined in. Blue truly wanted to believe what Nightmare said but it killed him to see his brother so upset and all he wanted to do was comfort him. 

“Hey how about I make a chocolate cake for dessert, do you want to help me make it Blue?” Horror asked as Blue sniffled a bit, Cross up and went to grab some crayons and paper.

“We can draw before you make it with Horror Blue!” Cross offered hoping to make Blue feel better. He smiled at the fact that they were trying and that made him feel better but his mind kept wandering back to his brother.

“Thank you but I just want to go home, I don't know why you guys want me here. I mean I’m not strong I am always nervous all the time, Ink and Dream are way better than me and-” Blue felt his breath staggering as he started to dwell. Everyone looked worried as Nightmare got close, he held Blues face so he would stare at him. He connected their temples and went to drain the negativity from Blues mind, as he did his breath started to slow and gain rhythm. 

“Blue you don't need to compare yourself to that idiot guardian of positivity and that soulless monster. You're fine just the way you are and I don't understand why you do that.”

“Well Ink and Dream are loved by everyone, I feel like I'm just a back up so they're not overwhelmed by things. In the Doodlesphere they would always talk and I’d just be in the background. I know they care but they just have a hard time showing it.”

“Doesn't seem like they care at all.” Nightmare hugged Blue wrapping his arm around his shoulder. “They don't know what they're missing. I would do anything to have someone like you on my team, I wish they would see how special you are.”

Blue smiled at him and got up from the couch opting to draw with Cross and Dust while Horror got started on dinner, Nightmare excused himself and headed to his office room. He forced himself to read through these dumb peace treaties over but enjoyed messing it up so it’d start a war, it was fun to see them argue and fight over the small things. He wondered how Dream was, usually he would never get that hurt, for a moment he felt a bit guilty for hurting Dream that bad but he could never outwardly show it. 

He wondered how Ink and Stretch were handling everything, he felt so much negativity in the past couple of days so he knew it wasn't good. He wanted to finally see them crumble but the balance had to stay the same so things had to stay the same as well.

“Hey boss dinners ready.” Killer said through the door. Nightmare went to the door only for Killer to open it looking concerned.

“What's wrong Killer?”

“Well it's you Boss, are you gonna tell Blue you like him already or are you just stalling?” He felt himself go cyan as Killer spoke but got annoyed. “Look Killer, I'll say and do whatever I'd like without anyone giving me their opinion.”

“C’mon Nightmare you’re still just a big old softie behind all that toughness.” Killer teased, Nightmare rolled his eyes and looked down back to his paperwork.

“I am not a softie.”

“Says you the first day we met, I remember you were sooo scared to actually defend yourself against your brother. Then I came along and-”

“Flipped me off and told me to leave when I first came to your world.” Nightmare interrupted remembering their first encounter at the castle, the memories would sometimes bubble up in his head. 

“Haha yeah…” Killer said, rubbing his head.

“Good times huh?”

“Yeah just like getting water thrown on my face!” Nightmare said to Killer who began laughing at the memory, he tried to fight it but laughed with Killer remembering it. 

“But I still taught you all my moves and look at you now! An assertive and strong leader, all thanks to me.”

“You flatter yourself too much Killer, that confidence is gonna be the end of you I swear,” Nightmare chuckled as he finished putting his papers away.

“Anywho I will tell Blue my feelings later on, it’s way too early to start anything yet.”

Killer nodded to him and headed out, he really wanted to take his time with Blue; it had only been two days and he couldn't be so abrasive. He went to the dinner table and saw Blue sitting next to Cross and an empty table, everyone was sitting down. He knew they did this on purpose...

He sat next to Blue who smiled at him as he looked at his plate of tacos Blues favorite food he guessed it was to make him feel more at home, he would have to thank Horror for that one later.

“Hey, guys so I was thinking why don't we have another sleepover?” Killer asked as Blue looked at him confused.  
“A sleepover? But we are all already sleeping in the same house?” They all laughed at Blue as his face turned blue. “What? What did I say??”  
“N-Nothing it’s just ha… we always have sleepovers,” Cross said, trying to stop his giggling.  
“Yeah we just go into the living room and we all sleep on the couch.” Dust said.  
“Oh well, that sounds fun.”

“Or you can have a sleepover with just Nightmare~” Killer said grinning to Nightmare who slapped him with a tentacle.  
“What is wrong with you??”  
“Uh..” Blues face flushed as he stared at his food while everyone chuckled including Nightmare as he thought of actually doing that with Blue.  
The tacos were really good and Blue made a mental note to ask Horror for the recipe. When they all finished Cross stacked all the plated together and thought to himself “Hey who has dishes tonight?”  
“Oh, I'll do it!” Blue volunteered as everyone eyed him, Killer grabbed the dish from Cross and went to the sink. “Nope it's my turn, Blue you don't have to do anything so don't worry about it.”  
He nodded and went to the living room with Dust to watch TV. He felt a bit happier since there was no fighting among them, but he still had his guard up just in case. Nightmare walked into the kitchen to see Horror getting flour and other ingredients for the cake “Oh hey boss where’s Blue?”  
“Oh, I should probably go get him.”   
Nightmare walked to the living room but was stopped by Cross who pointed to his office room.  
“We need to talk.”

As they walked in Nightmare felt how tense Cross was as he grabbed his phone and played a voicemail.

“Cross this is Ink, now I don't know where you are but what I do know is that you have Blue and I do not like people taking my things. I don't care what happens but I am giving you 2 weeks to give me back Blue, I would have Stretch be the newest member but he isn't a sans. I don't care what you do to Blue but I just need him back to spread positivity.”

Nightmare felt disgusted about how he talked about Blue as if he was a pawn in this, though that's technically what they did but they respected Blue, unlike Ink who sounded uncaring.

“Well just for that we will wait an extra 5 days to that, wait why does Ink have your number?”

“That part doesn’t matter, Boss what are we going to do though? We can't just keep Blue here forever, what about the balance?”

‘Well once Dream wakes up everything will be just fine.”

“What if he doesn’t wake up-”

“I didn't hit him that hard to where he is going to die, he can't just die!”

“Hey guys are you okay?” Dust said as he walked in. They both turned to Dust who just blankly stared at them “Blue went to go make the cake with Horror and Killer is watching TV. “

Cross looked at Nightmare and sighed to himself walking out “Let’s just hope he wakes up soon because if he doesn't then we're in for one helluva ride.”

“Cross wait don’t walk away from me,” Nightmare warned before it was just him and Dust. He grumbled and slumped on his desk.

“What was that about?” Dust asked quietly, he sat on the opposite end of the chair as Nightmare held his head.

“Nothing Dust, I just want to be alone right now.” 

“Want me to get Blue? Maybe he can he-”

“Thank you for being concerned Dust but I really do mean it when I say I want to be alone right now,” Dust got up and patted Nightmares back before leaving. His head was killing him and he really didn’t want to chase Cross down, he laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Blue wait don’t lick that!” Horror tried to grab the spoon from Blue but he ran past him.  
“Please I’ve done this plenty of times, you can lick the spoon with some batter,” Blue assured him as he went to lick the spoon, something stopped him as his soul went blue.

“Don’t get dirty I hate messes,” Dust said as he dropped the spoon in the sink much to Blue’s disappointment.

“Yeah Dust is a real neat freak, he always wants things done a certain way.” Horror said as he put the pan with the batter in the oven. Dust went to go wash the dishes and ignored them for the rest of the time. Horror looked at the baking book he had used for the cake and read through it again, he set the timer and went to go sit on the couch with Blue.

“It's really weird to just be sitting with you guys, only because of well you know..” Blue admitted as he sat between Killer and Horror.

“We know what you mean and trust us it's the same way for us too, but you’re here so might as well get along,” Killer said as he flipped through channels.

As they watched TV Blues mind wandered to his brother and what he might’ve been doing right now with him not there. No matter what he thought he knew Stretch was not having the best time right now, he could only hope they would at least let him visit. He shook his head and tried to focus on the positives, they weren’t trying to kill him…. That’s a positive right? He wanted to go hangout with Nightmare before he had to come back to the cake but Dust quickly came in and said he wasn't feeling good. He sat back down and relaxed, trying not to think about Ink or his brother. 

He just had to stay positive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's your guy's favorite ship (Can you guess mine? Lol) 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	6. Ink has ideas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask the guys nuts... and a bit of an ass

Ink paced around the room as he looked through Blues house, Alphys stood outside the door with some canine monsters who sniffed around the broken window. Papyrus stayed up in his room with Undyne who gave him some honey to calm down, he was worried sick but didn't want to think about it. He had dragged Dream with him so he would be there if he were to wake up.

“This isn't good Ink, Dream doesn't seem to be waking up anytime soon,” Sci said as he took his hand off of Dream's forehead. “What am I supposed to do? I can't do this on my own.” Ink punched the wall and turned to Sci who looked unamused and sighed.

“Ink I told you to check on Blue more often, you can't just call him when things go south. Isn't he a friend to you?”

“I mean I invite him to things, I know Dream said that lately Blue had been a lot more negative when he came around us so maybe not being near us was a solution?” Sci face palmed himself and rubbed his forehead in frustration trying to understand Ink twisted up reasoning. 

“So you have been ignoring him because he was sad? How does that even make sense, what do you think Dream would have to say about this.”

“Something positive..”

“Why are you like this…”

Suddenly Stretch walked in the room looking as pale as a skeleton could possibly be, he sat at the end of the couch near Dreams feet.

“So what are we going to do now… My brothers gone, Dream is in a fucking coma… who knows what’s going to happen next.” Ink put a hand on Stretch's shoulder and rubbed it reassuringly.

“Look I promise we will find Blue and you won't have to worry about a thing.” He looked to Ink and slapped his hand off of his shoulder and stood up.

“It’s not the same, it’s not like Error who only took him for a week and Blue was able to tell me what was going on, the only reason I didn't get to him was that I didn't know how to leave my universe. I don't even know if he's okay! I can't just call him!” He grabbed Blues phone from his pocket and waved it in the air.

“Look at this! I have this and Blue doesn't! So I don't know what's going on, Nightmare is probably torturing him right now and I can't even do anything about it!” Tears started to pour down Stretches eyes and he clutched the phone to his chest. 

“How am I supposed to not worry when my brother is with the deadliest people in the whole multiverse?” Ink stayed quietly as Stretch fell to the floor, his face pulled his hoodie up, he cried to himself and wanted to disappear. 

Ink said nothing and turned around and left, leaving stretch in his own misery as he sobbed loudly now knowing no one was here, except Dream of course.

Sci had left as well to see if he could make something that could wake Dream up faster. Everyone was in a state of panic as Ink desperately wanted everything to go back to the way it was. He looked at his pouch and grabbed a yellow vial and drank the liquid inside it. He felt himself smile and went to a newsroom to go make another report, he wanted to be cheery and make everything seem it was better than it was.

“Hello everyone I am happy to report that we have found where Blue is and he is safe, for now however we will not make advances to get him back as it is too early to make decisions. Right now we need your positivity so I ask all of you to be happy, everyone is safe and Dream is also looking even better and is expected to wake up a week from now!” This was all a lie and Ink knew it, he had to fake it so everyone would do the work for him and be happy. Hours later Ink was called by Sci to come back to Blue's house, he did not sound happy.

“I haven't even got close to knowing what's exactly going on in his head and you say he's expected to wake up by next week!?” Sci screeched as Stretch looked disappointed.

“You said my brother's location was found and he's safe.. You’re a fucking liar.”

“Look guys, I'm just trying to stall everyone.” Ink defended himself and looked to Dream who looked even worse, he was definitely wrong but couldn't admit it.

“I'm sure everything is going to be just fine.” Stretch laughed and got face to face with Ink, he felt nervous as his eye started to glow a bright orange.

“It better.”

“I promise I just need some more time to find Blue.”

“Did you even look? You have been here this whole fucking time, do not lie to my face Ink. You and Dream are the whole reason Blue got taken in the first place.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that if Blue never joined you and Dream he wouldn't be missing, you just rescued him and that's all you should've done but no you just had to recruit him into this little game of yours.”

“It's not a game! If it weren't for him this world would be destroyed completely, how about you start having some faith in your brother more.” Ink took a breath and felt himself get angrier as Stretch eyed him down. “Maybe you are the reason he joined our group, just to get away from you and your overbearing attitude.”

“TAKE THAT BACK YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

Bones were thrown Ink way as he dodged them he threw his brush Stretches way that was quickly dodged by him, they started throwing punches and both fell to the floor. Ink was on top of Stretch and grabbed his throat as he was thrown off by Sci who did his best to get them off of each other. Stretch spit at ink who threw another punch his way getting Sci on accident instead, his glasses were thrown to the ground before he looked at Ink.

“Okay that's it you're dead.”

“You can’t do shi-” Sci smack Inks face to the floor and he charges at him. It eventually turns into a fistfight between the three. Just then Alhpys walks in and sees all the commotion, she jumps into action and tries to stop the three.

“WOAH WOAH HEY! FIGHTING ISN’T GONNA GET US ANYWHERE KNOCK IT OFF!” 

Stretch gets away from all of them and sits on the couch again. He rubs his temple and all Sci can do is wonder what Nightmare even wanted with Blue anyway.

“We need to talk about what we're gonna do once we get Blue back,” Sci said as the others listened in. 

“Alphys if you could leave the room for a moment,” Sci said to Aplhys who excused herself. Ink tried to think of an idea, he was unsure what was even going on there in the first place.

“Is that even a question? We get Blue and bring him home. It's as easy as that,” Stretch said as Ink shook his head.

“I’m not trying to be mean when I say it but what if Blue gets… brainwashed.”

“Brainwashed? Blue? No that's impossible, I know he’s really gullible at times but he’d never listen to Nightmare out of all monsters.” Stretch defended, Ink and Sci looked at each other disappointedly before Sci spoke up.

“Stretch I know you think Blue would never betray us but we have to think of every possibility so we can be prepared. I don’t think Blue will do it either but what if he does?” What will we do then?”

“....You’re right, but I still refuse to believe Blue will just turn sides like that,” Stretch said as Ink rolled his eyes.

“Got something to say Ink?”

“I do actually, if Blue were to betray us we need a device that will stop him from leaving.” Ink answered as Sci already knew what Ink would say. 

“I’ll make something, I’m sure I can at least,” Sci said to the others who agreed. 

Ink went to go collect Dream who looked sick, he was almost happy he didn’t have to see them fight. He said goodbye to everyone else and teleported home, he went to Dreams room and laid him down. He looked around the house and realized how messy it was. ‘I’ll have to clean this before Dream wakes up’ He thought as he went to throw away empty beer cans. As he cleaned the Doodlesphere something kept coming back to his mind. ‘What if Dream stayed asleep?’ He remembered that he used a small dose of medication to keep him asleep as he would have been in pain if he woke up. But now… What if he got rid of Nightmare before Dream woke up? It would work, wouldn’t it? How would Blue feel? There's no way he would actually befriend Nightmare, he refused to believe it. Even with the voicemail, he sent to Cross who knows if they’ll take him seriously or not. He could only hope they would keep Blue alive in the meantime, at least until Dream wakes up or Nightmare is no longer a threat. 

Meanwhile, Sci is busy at his lab, trying to create a machine in case Blue were to get corrupted. He refused to believe that himself, Blue was loyal and would never betray them. So why did he have this sinking feeling in his stomach? Maybe it was because Dream was in a coma, it was odd how he was still asleep from getting hurdled into a tree. He remembered Dream had sustained more injuries from Nightmare, so why did this take him down? The thoughts only grew as he began to put parts together, he knew Blue used his bones to attack. He made sure to have the device electrocute a person in a tight space, he made sure it was small so others didn't get electrocuted. He was hopeful he would never have to use this on anyone and he was just being paranoid. Boy, would he see just how wrong he was...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone wanna be on the Sci protection squad?
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Nightmares pleasant phone call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feelings are spilled and Cross is not happy about it.

“Good job with the cake guys, it tastes really good!” Killer commented as he finished eating his slice. Everyone including Nightmare ate the cake Blue and Horror made, Blue was pretty impressed with himself until Horror spoke.

“Yeah, thanks guys I’m just glad you didn’t eat the first one.”

“The first one?” Dust questioned, he peered over to the trash can that was covered in glitter.

“Yeah Blue wanted to give it some glitter but you can't eat that.” Horror stated eyeing at Blue who looked down smiling at his cake, he chuckled as Blue stared at any direction other than his.

“I did nothing wrong because you can never go wrong with glitter.”

“Except on fo-” 

“Okay, I get it!” Blue interrupted with his face turning bright blue. Nightmare laughed at their antics before looking to Cross who stared down at him the whole time, he knew they should talk but he just wanted to pretend it was fine, but reality wouldn't allow that it seemed.

“Cross and I need to talk so we will be in the study room if you need us.” With that, they were both gone as the others looked at each other in confusion.

“Wonder what that all was about.” Horror said as he cut out another slice.

“Probably about the whole Blue situation.”

“Wait, what situation?” Blue asked Killer as he toyed with his knife. Killer looked to Blue and smirked, he got up and sat next to Blue. “You know… The whole ‘I like you’ thing…”

“What? I don't understand what are you imply-”

“Nightmare has a thing for you Blue oh my god are you really that oblivious??” Horror said laughing as Killer joined in “Yeah seriously he went through all the trouble too!”

Blue felt himself blush as they dogged on him, Dust sighed to himself and turned to Blue “How do you feel about him Blue?”

He couldn't really think of anything, he was nice and wanted him to understand more of the multiverse but he has killed so many people! Though he does look very nice and he seems to make Blue feel like he matters…

“I don't know I think he's sweet but does he really like me or is this just a trick? I don't think anyone would think of me in that way...”

“No tricks here Blue he likes you, that's the whole reason we took you in the first place.” Blue stopped and thought for a moment before raising his voice.

“Wait, you took me just because Nightmare is interested in me? What if I didn't like him back, what was going to happen then?” Blue said accusingly as the three of them were quiet.

“Hey what's going on here?” Nightmare asked as the negative energy was felt from the room, Blue turned to Nightmare “Do you like me?”

“Of course I do you are a good asset-”

“No, I mean do you like me?”

“Oh! Oh…” Nightmare felt himself sweat as he looked to Blue who tried to be hopeful, peering over to his boys they all looked away. Those assholes he thought to himself and looked to Blue again.

“If you want to know Blue yes I do like you.. Like that I mean” Killer smiled and went to Nightmare and patted him on the shoulder “good job bo-” He was thrown to the wall by Nightmare who was not in the mood for this. Blue walked close to Nightmare and grabbed his arm. It was funny how quick Blue had started to get feelings for him, he figured it was because he was actually really sweet under that tough guy act.   
“I like you too..” Killer squealed while on the floor.

“Finally let the ship sail!” 

“Shut up Killer!” Just then Cross walked in to see his team an absolute mess, not even questioning anything he sat down and ate cake. Nightmare was blushing hard but was glad Blue reciprocated his feelings, they looked happy and to him, that's all that mattered.

“What do you think their kids' names will be?”

“KILLER GOD DAMMIT WAY TO RUIN THE MOOD!!” Nightmare screeched in frustration as Killer just continued on smiling. 

“But I don’t want to put labels just because we aren’t very.. Familiar with each other yet.” Blue added as Nightmare agreed. Thank goddess he didn’t want to rush things either, it would've been awkward if he did. 

Later on, everyone was gathered in the living room with blankets and pillows, all in their PJs especially Blue since he still never even changed out of his. Looking through movies Dust got three of them to pick. It was either a nightmare before Christmas, Coraline, and Chuckie.

“Do you have anything other than horror movies?” Blue asked as Dust looked around once again, he got a movie called my neighbor Totoro.

“Does this work? It's a movie about these two human girls making friends with a raccoon monster.” Blue nodded happily as they all nestled in together in a happy pile. Halfway through the movie Nightmare got way closer to Blue and felt himself cuddle closer to Nightmare and blushed slightly being so close to someone he once perceived as an enemy. Once the movie ended everyone got comfortable to sleep, the order was Cross, Dust, Horror, Killer, Blue, and finally Nightmare. Usually Cross sat close to Nightmare but they were at a standoff with how to deal with Blue, with feelings out in the open it just made things more difficult on both parties. For now, though he just wanted to focus on the good things, like Blue curling up on his arm like a koala. What he didn't see was Killer snapping a photo of the two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had now been a week and a half, Blue was way more comfortable around everyone and was happy that Nightmare and himself were more close. Cross grew more distant as the days passed knowing things were going to end horribly, he wanted Nightmare to know he wasn't on his side. It was two more days where Ink expected Blue to be returned. He knew something would happen but if Nightmare wanted this to continue then he would watch the fall, he didn't treat Blue any different but he didn't go out of his way to talk to Blue which hurt him not knowing what he did.

Soon Cross just came out of his room to eat and that was not even guaranteed as he would often sneak out of his room while everyone was asleep to go eat leftovers Horror had specially made for him.

Killer walked to Cross’s door and put his head to it trying to hear in but no sound escaped, he knocked on the door quietly and a paper slipped out from the bottom. He read the words ‘go away’ in red ink. Killer sighed to himself and knocked again “Cross please it’s Killer I just want to make sure you're okay.” The door creaked open to see Cross’s tear-stained eyes looking to Killer.

“Somethings going to happen and someone is going to get hurt…”

“Cross no, don't say that it will be fine, I know you're worried about Ink and the others but Dream is gone and-”

“I don't want Dream to be gone because of the balance! Am I the only one here who actually cares? I mean don't get me wrong I love seeing Blue and Nightmare happy but it doesn’t change the fact that there is a balance and if we outweigh everything it will end up bad for us.”

“I know but it’s in a week, right? I'm sure Blue could go and explain everything and it'll all be fine.” Cross only looked to Killer with uncertainty as he continued. “Nightmare has been worried but you know how he is, he won't admit it but he wants to talk to you.” 

“He's always been stubborn,” Cross said as he fully opened his door stepping out, he looked like a mess. Killer winced and grabbed Cross’s hand and walked him to the living room.

“Oh hey, Cross it's good to see you!” Horror said from the couch, Dust had come up with some popcorn giving it to Cross. Looking around he didn't see Blue or Nightmare, he turned to Killer who smirked at him.

“Blue and the boss went out for lunch.”

“They went out? Like a date?”

Killer nodded happily to him and sat on the couch patting the seat next to him, they watched whatever was on tv and relaxed. Cross felt a buzz on his phone and saw Ink was calling.

“Guys Ink is calling me..”

“How did he even get your number?” Cross shrugged and answered the phone and out it on speaker.

“Hello? Cross is that you?”

“Who did you think you were calling?”

“Ugh just tell me how Blue is I need to take care of his stupid brother and I am getting tired of his whining.”

“Um.. I didn't know I mean-”

“AH INK IS THAT YOU HELP ME!” Dust screamed in the girliest voice he could make, everyone looked at him and Horror slapped his hand over Dust’s mouth. Ink gasped through the phone and started panicking.

“Blue it's okay I will find you and help you! Cross so help me I will personally fuck you up-”

“Okay thank you bye!” Click

“DUST WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??”

“I improvised, if he thinks Blue is in trouble he is going to be less willing to get him if he thinks we'll kill him.” Dust shrugged, I mean it kind of made sense to Cross but what would he tell Nightmare now? He hated how Dust would do these kinds of things, he always landed them in hot water. 

Just then Nightmare and Blue show up and they see everyone standing around sweating like they came from a pool, they seemed surprised that Cross was out of his room. “Cross I’m so happy you aren't cooped up in your room! Are you okay?” Blue asked, walking close to him. A tentacle wrapped around Blue’s waist and brought him back to Nightmare who put his arm around him, he eyed Cross suspiciously seeing everyone this tense meant something was up.

“Are one of you going to tell me what's going on or am I going to make you?” Cross got his phone and looked at Nightmare.

“Boss I got a call from Ink and he wanted Blue, we said nothing to him but he seemed pissed. What are we going to do?” Blue looked at Nightmare confused before he put two and two together.

“Oh! That what you all were panicking over? Don't worry I promise I will talk to Ink and everything will be okay, I'm sure Ink will understand, this is all just a misunderstanding anyway.” Everyone looked at Blue knowing that was far from the case since Ink was irrational and most likely wouldn't understand.   
“I would also like to see my brother so he knows that I'm safe,” Blue added, making everyone feel guilty, Nightmare rubs Blue's shoulder affectionately. “It's not that easy Blue, Ink is more ignorant of the situation and I know that he will not want to listen.” 

“What do you want us to do then boss.” Nightmare grabs Cross's phone and dials Inks number, he puts it up to his ear and waits patiently. 

“Hello Ink? Yeah, it's Nightmare, we have Blue and he is safe. What do you mean he was screaming?” Dust turned around and walked out of the living room quickly. “Well I am not one for torture so I guess Blue was lucky, hey don't act like you don’t care because I know you do. If you want Blue back you better start treating him like a fucking friend than a backup, you are only standing because he wants it. Yep, huh? Okay, so you can see him tomorrow then, bring his brother too. Have your phone ready, I’ll call you for more details.” They hung up and all Nightmare could do was put his hand to his head. Everyone felt tense seeing Nightmare like this but all he does is look to Blue. 

“So Blue you are going to see Ink and Stretch tomorrow.”

Cross was given his phone and retreated back to his room, he really felt awkward seeing Nightmare at the moment. Killer went to go after him to try and help the situation while the others stayed with Blue and Nightmare.

"So how was the date?" Horror asked as he sat on the couch, Blue bounced up in excitement and showed them a picture. It was Nightmare and Blue in a photo booth, they were surprised Nightmare had a genuine smile. 

"We went to a carnival and we rode the Ferris wheel, but we didn't do it again because Nightmare's stomach started to hurt," Blue said as Nightmare rolled his eyes.

"That's only because we ate right before we went, I told you it was a bad idea." Nightmare defended, he had insisted on sitting down but Blue was a huge ball of energy. He could never say no to that little face of his.

"Glad that you guys had a good time but what are we going to do tomorrow?" Dust chimed in as Nightmare took out his phone.

"I'll be messaging Ink throughout the day making plans for tomorrow, it also depends on what Blue wants." Hre turned to the small skeleton who insisted on just meeting them. No matter how bad it sounded Blue didn't want to leave this place yet, he was having way too much of a good time with everyone.

"Well alright, we just have to be very cautious for tomorrow so I suggest we all take the day to recharge and prepare." With that, they all went to do their normal activities. For the rest of the day, Nightmare was stressing and Cross was contemplating as the clock was ticking.

"Cross c'mon, You know I won't say anything." Killer said as Cross just laid on his bed turned away from him. He had nothing to say and just wanted this over with already. 

"Just get ready for things to go south tomorrow," Cross said as he went to push Killer out of his room. Killer was left standing outside his door and wondered why they all just couldn't get along. He went back to the living room and joined Dust to watch TV while hoping tomorrow was going to go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope this didn't feel rushed! I noticed that my chapters seem really short so I'm hoping it's still good nonetheless. I also imagine Dust being able to mimic people's voices really well and playing tricks on people with it.
> 
> Thank you for reading and tell me what you think!


	8. A losing battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Violence, blood, torture? Thought I'd add this just in case, though the writing kinda sucks

“Okay is everyone ready?” Red and Sci looked around as Ink spoke, they were in a Horrortale au to Nightmares orders. Stretch stuck to Inks side waiting patiently for his brother, his mind kept racing to the thought of his brother being tortured. They were lucky Red joined them but that was only because he feared Sci getting hurt, much to Sci telling him he could protect himself.  
“So tell me the plan again?” Red asked as he summoned a blaster behind a tree making sure it was hidden.  
“Okay so once Blue is here Stretch will go up to him and teleport with him away to their home, he will come back later but meanwhile we are going to attack Nightmare and his gang. After that Stretch will come and we will successfully defeat Nightmare and his gang.”

“And we know this is going to work how?” Sci added as Ink shrugged. “I don't know but we’re going to find out.”

Stretch stayed silent the whole time just thinking of what he was going to do to Nightmare once he arrived, he hoped Blue wasn’t too injured or traumatized by them. He was already worried enough but once Ink told him about the phone calls his worry only grew. He refused to talk to anyone and only nodded absentmindedly to anyone who approached. He had his eyes at the trail where he assumed his brother would be coming from. Sci and Red came from behind, they looked worriedly at Stretch who ignored their worry.

"Hey, buddy you alright?" Red asked as he went to tap Stretches shoulder, he stopped Red's hand from touching him and slaps it away.

"I don't need your pity." Sci had instantly interrupted at the words.

"What Stretch no we don't pity you, were just worried... We all are, so let's just try and do this together okay?" Sci said trying to comfort Stretch, he smiled and waved them off while continued to stare into the snow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright is everyone ready?” Nightmare asked as everyone headed to the front door, Blue stood right beside Nightmare holding his jacket. They all felt nervous just going to meet Ink and Stretch but they wanted Blue to be happy so they'd take the risk. Cross was also going to be coming along as well, carrying along with his pouch of sleeping powder just in case if things go south. They all had their weapons ready just in case but they were hoping there would be no fight since Blue would be there, but still Ink was unpredictable so they had to play safe. Everyone got close to Nightmare to teleport as Blue still had things on his mind.

“Just before we go I know Ink will listen to me, I'm his friend and Papyrus will also be more understanding even if he is really protective,” Blue said, he was adamant that Ink would never do anything too brash or harsh.

“Let’s just hope so Blue.” Nightmare said as he went to hold Blues hand, he squeezed it and waited for Blue to squeeze back.

They all left for the world they said they'd meet at, Blue looked around as they all walked towards their destination. The world was grey and dead, he had never seen so many trees with dust on them. He got a bit closer to Nightmare as he surveyed the area. “Why didn't we just fully teleport there Nightmare?” His face looked tense as he looked around. The place was empty and he knew something was up as they got closer, Killer saw Horrors face which hurt him to see. He didn't want to remember this part of his life but he still went to visit his brother at his old home where he would bring him a lot of food, still he couldn't help but feel terrible being there. He could already tell it wasn't his world though so there was that.

“It's alright bud we won't be here for long,” Killer said, putting his hand on Horrors shoulder.

“I'm sorry Horror I shouldn't have picked this as the meeting place.” Nightmare apologized as Horror waved him off saying he could deal with it. As they continued on the feeling of dread grew on them as the intensity grew with it. From the distance they were able to spot a brown and orange blob, Blue got excited and walked faster as Nightmare tried to slow him down. Blue waved excitingly to them but did not get a wave back, they got close to see them fully. Nightmare let go of Blue who ran to his brother with open arms, he ran into the embrace of his brother and was enveloped by the younger. They stood there silently and something was just not sitting right with Nightmare as he heard an odd sound from behind them. 

“RED NOW!” Nightmare knew this was going to happen.

A blaster came from behind the group and shot at them, having their guard up they quickly dodged the attack. Blue turned around in a panic and tried to get out of his brother's arms screaming “INK WAIT I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING WE DON'T NEED TO FIGHT!” Stretch shushed him and they teleported off, Nightmare felt his ‘blood’ boil as they took him. But now that Blue was gone he wasn't gonna hold back.

“You wanna play it that way you stupid Inky idiot, well two can play it that way.” He nodded to Dust who instantly summoned a bunch of bones and threw them to Red who hesitantly stepped out of the bushes, he was pushed to the ground by Sci and just missed the barrel of bones that went his way. Red summoned a bone and fought Dust as the others came to his aid, Sci was quick to get a laser gun he had been preparing. It worked like a blaster but was more artificial, shooting it at Horror he successfully blasted him in the chest. Meanwhile, Nightmare shot out his tentacles Inks' way who was able to dodge them with ease as he grabbed his brush. Nightmare lunged forward to knock the brush out of the way but was slammed against the snow, he quickly got up and slapped Ink back sending him a couple of feet back. They already knew an attack was going to happen no matter what but they didn't anticipate it like this. Nightmare was getting more frustrated knowing they would believe Blue no matter what he said, what if they hurt him? They torture him? Try to trick him and tell him lies? The thoughts were now endless in Nightmare mind as it fueled him to get this fight over with. 

“Brother what are you doing? They didn't hurt me. I need to explain to Ink it was all a misunderstanding.” Stretch frowns at him and puts him in his room. He takes a device that Sci gave him, he pushed a button and slid it in the room. Blue is the only one in the room and as soon as the device started to glow a bright sunny yellow, pain shot through his body, he wailed in pain and fell to his knees. 

“I'm so sorry bro I don't want to do this but Nightmare tainted you and I need to bring you back, once you stop trying to get out it will stop I promise,” Blue screamed in pain and reached out for his brother who promptly teleported away and back to the battle, he tried to get up but his body was in so much pain he found himself screaming for Nightmare. During the days he was there he slept in the guest bedroom, he hoped that he could really get to know Nightmare even with their already shared time together. But he knew that wouldn't be possible now.

Nightmare was back into a tree as his gang was getting tired of Sci and his stupid but helpful invention that slowed them down, bit by bit they were losing this battle and from the looks of it they didn’t know if they would get out of it. He made the decision it wasn't worth fighting, he turned to grab all his gang mates and leave before anyone else got hurt. Suddenly as he slammed Ink way he runs to get them but sees something sharp come out of his stomach, he looks up to only see his fellow gang mates looking in horror and fear as everything went dark.

“You asked for this, you son of a bitch.” Stretch came from behind as he took out the bone that shot through Nightmare. Killer screamed and ran to them but was shot at by Red which took him down. Cross got the powder from his pouch and blew it to Sci when he finally got close enough, when he went down Red went crazy and proceeded to throw Cross into a tree nearby as Horror swung his ax at him in return. Everyone was in panic mode seeing Nightmare get hit, he never got hit like this and when he did it was never as severe as this... Dust ran to Nightmare before he was hit with Inks brush knocking him back, he refused to go down without a fight and hit Inks knee. Stretch held Nightmare high as he was bleeding out black ooze, Dust shot a bone at Stretch who used Nightmare to block it.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Dust cried out as Ink hit him in the head causing him to pass out.

Killer stood up and looked around at the chaos surrounding him, he knew he had to get out but he couldn't leave them on their own, he had to save someone. For once his smile was gone... Nightmare, Cross, and Dust were passed out and Nightmare was on the brink of death. Horror was the only one standing and was busy fighting off Red who tried to get to Cross, he had to act fast as Ink walked up to him with a brush in hand. He ran to Red and sliced his ribs with his knife and pushed him away, he grabbed Horror and teleported away with him sadly leaving everyone else behind.

“I.. I.. didn't want to leave b-but I had to save someone- I am so-” Killer fell to his knees at the castle and sobbed into his sleeves as Horror's mind raced around the thought of his friends being dead. He grabbed Killer and held him reassuring him that it was okay, he rubbed his skull and let himself cry knowing this was it. They were alone and had no idea what was going on back at the battlefield, they could only hope now that it was a quick, painless death.

“We did it.. We actually did it!” Ink screamed happily as Stretch smiled at the sight of a vulnerable Nightmare in his hands, Red got up and dragged Cross to Dust so they were together. He couldn't believe his luck, thank the stars Stretch came in just in time!

“I want Nightmare to survive this.” Stretch said to Ink as he got closer “Because I want to do even worse to him than this.” Ink laughed and patted him on the back agreeing with him “Yeah I mean I did want them dead at first but they still can have a purpose, it's just not what they would want but I don't care!” Ink said happily as he drank a yellow vial. He was really excited knowing that he won. Red was holding Sci bridal style, he was nervous and tried to make Sci wake up. He looked to the others worriedly.

"Is he dead?? I don't know what's going on and-"

"Woah it's okay Red, its sleeping powder I can tell. He'll just be asleep for a while," Ink explained as Red sighed in relief. He chuckled and looked to a passed out Cross, he was gonna make this man pay for what he did.

Back in Blue's house, he laid on the floor as the device finally stopped electrocuting him, his body spasmed as he tried to control his breathing. Stretch knocked on the door and came in with a glove on, he turned off the device and put a hand on Blues back who jumped shakily.

“Please don't,” Blue said weakly as Stretch looked shocked.

“No bro I wouldn't hurt you, I just want what's best for you. With that said you are officially not a Star Sans and you are only going to help spread positivity without doing anything. Plus you won't have to worry about Nightmare and his gang hurting you ever again.”

“What do you mean by that?” Blue hesitantly asked as he didn't really want to know.

“Well Nightmare is really hurt and the others are in some prison Ink made for them.” Tears rose into Blue eyes as he looked at Stretch, he understood their concern giving their history but he knows the good side of them. He knew about the balance!

"Brother they had to protect the balance please I'm telling you the truth! They didn't hurt me either, I'm fine!" He pleaded to his brother, they fell on deaf ears as Stretch got up. He shook his head disappointedly.

"Bro I thought you were stronger than this... I really didn't want to believe Sci but he's right. They tainted you and tricked you," Stretch was very unhappy and he couldn't wait to be alone with that monster for what he did. 

"No.. no, no, no, he's not right Brother! I-I-I why won't you-" Blue cried into his gloves having time to actually dress in his armor again. He couldn't understand why his brother wasn't believing him, he was sobbing uncontrollably and Stretch tried to comfort him. Blue tried to push himself away not wanting to be comforted by someone who didn't believe him.

"Why are you being so difficult Bro?" Stretch sighed as he got up, he let Blue cry alone and left leaving Blue to wallow in his own misery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was hard to write only because I really wasn't sure where I wanted to take this, all I can say is that these poor babies are gonna have a bad time. Nightmare especially because of a certain angry skeleton.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	9. Game plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prison won't be so fun for Cross and Dust....

Dust woke up with the worst headache, he laid on a cold metal floor, he was alone. He tried to get up but choked, he felt his neck seeing a chain that connected his neck to the wall. He pressed his head to a wall trying to see if he could hear anything, there movement coming from the other side he knocked the wall and received one back.   
“Hello? Who's on the other side?” 

“It's Cross.”

“Oh my god Cross are you okay?”

“Yeah except I have a killer headache.”

“Yeah me too pal, where is everyone else? Do you know?”

“I don't know I was knocked out before I could see anything.”

“Do you think they’re..”

“Let’s not think about that, we just need to figure out how to get out of here.”

“Right.”

They stayed silent as loud footsteps were heard they dreaded thinking who was going to have their door opened, it seemed to be Dust's lucky day as the feet continued passing his door to Crosses.

Ink stayed in front of the door as Cross snarled at him “What do you want?” He just walked to Cross and put a hand on his cheek, he slapped his hand and scooted himself away. “I don't want to hurt you Crossy but you have to behave.”

“What the fuck does that mean? Behave? HA like I would ever behave for you after you abandoned me.”

“I didn't abandon you Cross I-”

“What was it then? Fucking leave for years no one does something like that! I can't believe you say that you didn't abandon me when you absolutely did!” Ink said nothing as Cross ranted.

"The only one that was ever there for me was Nightmare and I don't even know if he's alive or not thanks to you," Cross angrily said. Ink went up to Cross and punched him in the gut.

“I don't appreciate back talk Crossy~” 

“Shut up and don't call me that.” He wheezed out as he coughed trying to get some breath in his non-existent lungs.

“Look I don't want to alarm you Crossy but you are in my hands now, if you don't want Nightmare to get more hurt than he already has, I suggest you behave.” The mention of Nightmare sent off a switch in his head as he panicked thinking back to seeing him get stabbed by Stretch.

“Where is he.” 

“Somewhere safe.. As long as you and your friend over there behave.”

“..Fine, I don't know what you want anyway so..”

“Oh you'll see soon enough Crossy~”

Ink left the room as Cross heard Dust's voice “Okay man?”

“Yeah I'm alright and Nightmare is too.”

“Really? That's great! What about Horror and Killer?”

“I don't know, I guess we're gonna have to wait and see.”

Dust hummed through the wall as the two stared off into space, what were they going to do? Could they even do anything at this point? Dust had tried to summon his magic but being too weak he wasn't able to do anything. Cross only had the powder which he saw was taken from him once he got up. They were powerless at the moment and could only hope everyone else was safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ink teleported to the living room where Stretch sat there worried, he looked to Ink and was giving him a hopeful look. Ink already knew what he would ask and didn’t want to be bothered.

“Blue will be fine Stretch like I said just bring him here and I’ll take care of the rest,” Ink assured as Stretch shook his head.

“I don’t know Ink, Blue’s been pretty… rebellious and I’m not sure if that has to do with them or not.” He sighed knowing he would have to convince him otherwise. Ink went to Stretch and held his chin up to meet his gaze.

“I already know they hurt Blue, I’ve seen this countless times and Blue is no different. They brainwashed him and know you lost your brother, but don’t worry there’s still hope! There’s me and I love Blue, I’ll do anything for him and the same with Dream. Blue might be in pain for a while but that’s what has to happen, we can’t lose him can we?” Stretch instantly shook his head. He had treated Blue badly months prior to all of this and he was desperate to make up for it. Now everything was different and he just wanted his brother back, no matter what he had to do.

“See? Blue is gonna be stubborn, that's a given but with love and patience, he will turn around in no time! I already have a special room for him and everything, though there are chains just in case he turns violent. It’s just a precaution.” Ink explained as Stretch agreed to this. He didn’t like the idea of his brother in chains but if that’s what had to be done he wouldn’t protest it.

“Alright I’ll bring him over in the next day or so, I just want to spend some more time with him.”

“Understandable Stretch, I’ll see you until then.” Ink smiled knowing that the first part of his plan was now completed, now it was time for some fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killer sat on the couch as Horror walked in with some eggs, He gave a plate to Killer who shoved it away. “No thanks man, I'm not feeling it.” Horror sighed and nudged it to him again.

“You need to eat and if you don't I'll make you.” Horror warned as Killer reluctantly ate his food.  
They ate in silence as they thought of what they were going to do now, everyone was gone except them and they had no way to contact them. It worried them to no end as they felt they were powerless, they didn't even know what they were doing to Blue for god's sake!

“We need a game plan,” Killer said.

“Yeah sounds nice but we don't exactly have the best team at the moment since it's just the two of us.”

“Actually no, we have one more person we can go to.”

“They have Blue now.”

“No, I’m talking about the man who can fuck up a whole universe in one go.”

“Wait you don't mean?”

“Yep I’m talking about Error, he's our only chance now.”

“How are we going to get him to want to help us?”

“Blue.”

“Blue?”

“Blue.”

“How is he going to help us with this?”

“They have a history! He still cares about him so of course he's gonna hop on the bandwagon! Remember Blue was the only one that made it out alive from being kidnapped by him.”

“That makes sense I guess, we will have to see what happens then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Error joins the party! Maybe...   
> I forgot tags were a thing so I went back and added some more, so let your imaginations run wild!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	10. Please say yes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Killer and Horror are desperate to get Error to help and will do anything necessary, even bringing up the past

The endless color of white filled the area as the black glitchy skeleton hand-knitted a piece of blue clothing, he used one hand to grab his drink as he finished his work. He turned on his tv and watched a TV show as per usual, he did not like the fact that it was so quiet but he didn't really have anyone to talk to except for... 

“Hey, Error!”

“W-w-what the f--fuck-!” He fell over his bean bag as he jumped in surprise seeing Killer and Horror, he looked confused before looking behind them. His body started to glitch and the two waited patiently for him to calm down.

“N-no o-o-ne else?”

“Nope just us.”

“O-o-h oka-y.” His voice glitched with his body as he spoke, they both hated that as it could be a low voice to high pitched in seconds, but of course, Error couldn't help that so they learned to just live with it. Especially with Nightmare not tolerating any of his gang mates feeling upset about something they couldn't control. Error really didn't try to ever be hostile to everyone in the group but preferred to stay isolated, but still being seen as a valued member of the gang.

"W-W-What are y-y-you doing h-h-ere anyways?" The two visitors stood in silence for a moment, not really know how to bring it up.

“So we need your help buddy.” The glitchy skeleton looked at the two of them and sighed to himself, he got up and grabbed Killer by the shoulder.

“N-No.”

“No? But Error-”

“You g-g-guys always d-d-drag m-me along with y-y-your shit and I-I-I’ve had it. L-L-Last t-time I help y-o-u-you with something I-I-I had a broken a-a-arm! It’ll t-ttake me a-a lot of convincing.” That was true, especially when they were in trouble and needed assistance. Error was never very vocal about it so Nightmare made sure to remind everyone to check in with him every once in a while. He didn't want him to be lonely even if he was the biggest introvert they had ever met, he still needed a good support system. Every now and again they would bring him chocolate or buy him new knitting supplies in case they got lost, or Ink took it. Which he did quite often and would leave Error a mess afterward. But right now they needed Error more than ever so the two skeletons were willing to do anything.

“C’mon Error we just need-”

“W-W-WWhat did I-I-I just s-ssay? No I-I am t-tired of this and i-i-if you really n-n-needed me N-N-Nightmare would’ve s-said something himself.” Error said as he flopped back into the bean bag, he gathered some strings and started over. He would rather be alone than continue to conversate with them, he wondered why Nightmare wasn't even here.

“Nightmare isn’t at the castle, we don’t know where he is.” Horror said and that brought Errors attention away from his strings. 

“W--what did y-yyou say?”

“He’s gone.. And so is Blue” Horror continued as Error looked up in confusion.

“W-Wwhat does B-Blue have to d-d-do with this? H-He is a S-Star Sans last t-time I checked.” Just the reminder of the blue skeleton made Error feel odd, he hated remembering the past. He had tried to avoid him for a while and until now proved successful. 

“Well… Blue has been with us this whole time and now they’re gone…” Killer said as Error started to glitch. He couldn’t understand just what in the hell was going on. Horror turned to Killer who saw it as an opportunity to persuade him. 

“ Okay to start off Blue is in trouble and we need your help. Nightmare, Cross, and Dust were kidnapped By Ink and Blue's crazy brother. We have no one else to turn to,” Killer said as Error stopped to think for a moment. The thought of Blue being in danger sent chills down his spine as he turned to Killer.

“E-E-Explain everything s-s-so far.”

After a while of explaining all Error could do was look down, Blue liked Nightmare, no he loved Nightmare. He cursed himself as he figured out a way to find the others, realizing they would need to get Blue that seemed to be the first step. He figured he would have more information and knew exactly where he was or at least where he should be. He muttered under his breath already knowing he had no choice but to get involved.

“F-F-Fine I’ll help, but n-not because of you t-t-two but b-because of him.”

“Yes, I knew that’d work,” Killer said happily now that Error was coming along.

“D-D-Don’t get too e-e-excited, after t-this I am o-o-out. Don’t expect t-t-to see m-me for a-a-a while.”

“Why’s that?” Horror asked concerned for the destroyer as he rolled his eyes.

“I-I-I don’t n-need to say a-anything, now f-first we need t-t-t get B-Blue. They probably j-j-just have h-h-him at h-home.” Error plainly said trying to bring attention back to the situation of half the team being gone. He didn't want to show it but he really was worried about the others. Even if they got defeated they would never let one another go missing, so he knew this was serious. After all Nightmare out of all people was captured.

Killer and Horror nodded to him and they all teleported to Underswap.

The atmosphere felt off as Underswap was usually a happy place but now it looked empty, as the trio walked through Snowdin they saw missing posters of Blue. “Didn't they take those down already, I mean he's already been found?” Horror whispered to Killer as he agreed “We don't know what these people know but we should have our guard up just in case.” 

What baffled the trio was a missing poster of Stretch, he had to be here right? There was no way they were both missing, seeing as how Blue was taken back home by Stretch. Killer was trying to connect the dots but couldn't, it just didn't make sense...

From the distance they approached their house and seeing a yellow lizard in armor, the lizard turned around and whipped out her axe as they got even closer “Hey! What do you think you're doing?” The three stopped in confusion wondering why she wanted them to stop, she snarled at them and pointed the axe at the trio “As captain of the royal guard I order you to go back home. Now.”

“What did we do?” Killer asked as she got even angrier “I said to go home!”

“But why?”

“Because this area is dangerous!”

“But Sans and Papyrus are there, we want to see them!” Killer protested as Error's little patience was running thin, he gathered a few strings in his hand and prepared to rip the bitches head off..

“You’re with Ink aren’t you, I never got his number and I don’t even know what's going on but Sans is still missing. His brother is gone too..” The monster said quietly as the trio looked confused.

“I had to investigate Sans’s disappearance and I saw the place beat up and no one was home, no one answered their phone, both Papyrus and Sans have just been almost wiped off from the rest of the world…” The monster said sadly most likely remembering Blue.  
”I guess you guys are here to finish getting evidence huh? Fine, you can go in but if you take anything of theirs I swear to Toriel I will kill you.”

The trio dismissed Alphys last words and carried onto the beat-up house, It looked even worse with every window being broken and things on the floor. “Did we do this?” Killer asked Horror as he shook his head “We came from the kitchen and all we did was grab Blue and leave, we didn't do any of this.”  
They looked around the house and went to the bedrooms. Papyrus's room was just messy and didn't seem to have any malicious intent, going to Blues room it was thrashed. Things were thrown around and things were broken. Error looked to see there was a huge slash on his bed, the mattress was ripped apart and his sheets were shredded. 

“W-what --ha--happened?” 

“I swear all we did was kidnap Blue that's it,” Killer said as Error shot him a dirty look.

“I-I-I still c-c-can’t believe you j-jjust kidnapped him l-l-like that.”

“Hey, I did it to make Nightmare happy alright I didn’t expect all of this to happen! Plus you kidnapped him too so don't be a hypocrite.” Error rolled his eyes he saw that he was glitching badly, he stopped for a moment to breathe.

"W-W-Why do you t-think he's not here? W-W-Where else c-could they h-h-have taken him?"

“I don't know but this isn't good, Papyrus should have just brought Blue home.”

“Do you think they took him somewhere else?” Horror added as he grabbed a picture of the missing siblings, he wondered if Blue was okay or not. It was weird he wasn't home and that's all he could think of as they continued to look around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Papy please why are we here?” 

“Because bro we need to make you better, we can't have you home if you're going to cry and hide away from me the whole time.”

“I'm telling you that Nightmare and the others are harmless, they had to protect the balance!”

“Blue no they lied to you, they only said that to trick you into wanting to stay with them.” Ink interjected as Blue struggled with the chains that were placed on his wrists. “I don't want to do this to you but we don't know what you will do to us if we let you go.’

“Ink you know I would never hurt you or anyone! I just want to explain to you what's going on, it's just a misunderstanding!”

Papyrus sighed and looked to Ink “He really did taint my bro, Nightmares gonna pay for this.”

“Wait, papy please he didn't taint me and he didn't hurt me either! Please listen to me, I promise I'm not lying!” Blue protested as Papyrus stared at him in shame.

“What would Dream say about this Blue? Dream would never defend a monster but look at you, he destroyed worlds do you understand? Billions of people died because of him. He doesn't have a reason he just wants to kill people.”

Blue felt himself start to cry more as he thought of Dream who he presumed still hasn't woken up yet, he just wanted everyone to get along and be happy. Ink patted Stretches back as he walked off saying he couldn't handle seeing his brother be so corrupt. Ink took out a syringe that was pure white, Blue panicked seeing the needle pressed to his arm.

“Ink what are you doing?”

“If I can uncorrupt you I can do it to everyone else in the gang, I already tried it with Cross and Dust. Though I haven't seen the results yet, I'm hopeful just like you should be.” Blue tried to squirm away but Ink helped him close.

“Don't be scared Blue I promise I will make you better, you just have to trust me.”

“I don't trust you, why are you doing this? You have no reason Ink! Dream wouldn't want this-”

“Well Dream isn't here anymore so I guess it doesn't matter now does it.” Ink said in a cold tone, Blue cried out as the needle sank into his arm filling him with the liquid. It burned his skin as he cried out, he wanted to just disappear, he wanted to go see Nightmare and the others. They made him feel safe and that's all he wanted to be, safe and somewhere it was okay for him to be himself. 

Ink rubbed Blue’s skull and shushed him as his world began to go dark as he slowly closed his eyes. Ink smiled happily ‘It works.’  
Ink went upstairs out of the basement in the Doodlesphere and saw Dream asleep in his room, he grabbed another syringe and shook Dream a bit as he stirred. “Oh Dream you're supposed to be asleep, as soon as Blue is back to normal and the bad guys are gone I'll let you wake up.” He plunged the syringe in his arm as Dream's body laid limp on the bed. “I hate to say but Nightmare putting you in a coma was probably the best thing he could have ever done.” Ink closed the door halfway as he continued talking to himself.

“Dream has always protected Nightmare so now that he can't defend him I'll just fabricate what he did to Blue and countless others so he will have no choice but to be fine with him gone. Hopefully, I can talk Blue into giving up this fight to have them be saved.”

Red walked through the hallway and finally found Ink after looking around.

“I swear this place is like a fucking maze, how do you not get lost here??” Red said as Ink shrugged, he did make it after all so he knew the in’s and out’s of the place. Ink made sure to block the door so Red couldn't see inside, he really didn't want anyone to find out.

“Look anyway Dust tried to stab me with a small stick that was laying around so I kinda knocked him out and he's bleeding pretty bad… Is that a problem if so I’ll go heal it right now. I mean I put a bandage over it but it's still kinda bad” Red explained nervously as Ink once again shrugged.

“As long as they’re alive that's all I care about, we just need to find the rest of them and bring them here. I was going to go to the news and talk about our findings but I think I want to keep this one a secret.” Red was confused at Inks' words not understanding him.

“So wait, I thought we were just gonna keep them in prison and rough them up a bit I mean I haven’t even seen Nightmare yet so-”

“Oh you won’t get to see him anytime soon, Stretch and I made a deal so Nightmare is his for the torturing.” Ink spoke as Red felt nervous hearing the words.

“Look I know I have had my experience with torturing people but man I'm getting a bad feeling about this, what is Stretch even doing to him?”

“Don’t worry about that Red, for now, you have much more to be worried about. Have you talked to Sci?” 

“What happened?” Red asked concerned for his maybe soon to be lover. 

“Well that powder Cross threw on him has been showing some… effects.” Red paused and thought to himself before turning around.

“You know what never mind Dust can heal himself or something, I don’t care what happens anymore. Sci is my number one concern right now so those two can fuck off for all I care,” Red ranted as he teleported straight to Sci’s universe to check on him. All Ink did was smile and fully close Dreams door making sure no one noticed the bruises on his arms from all the needles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Ya'll I just want them to be happy but writing angst so much fun (Don't worry I'm sure Cross and Dust are fine...)  
> Also, no one has really seen Dream because Ink has been giving excuses for not seeing him.


	11. loving reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dust has a fighting spirit and Ink breaks it...

“Dun dun dun~”

“I’m fuckin done~”

“With this shiiii~~”

“OH MY GOD SHUT UP YOU TWO,” Red yelled angrily as Cross and Dust stopped singing   
He slammed his hand on Dust’s door as he jumped. He had healed Dust's head and now he was back to being his assholish self again, which annoyed him to no end. He had to be a guard for these idiots while Ink whipped up another serum to give to them, he would have asked what it was but he couldn’t think with those two pestering him. As time grew on he kept thinking about Cross putting Sci to sleep, he woke up an hour later but at the moment he thought he lost him, the more he thought about it the angrier he got. He looked into Cross’s door and said loudly “I am waiting to see what Inks got in store for a scum bag like you.” He scoffs at him and looks away.   
“Dun dun dun~”

“Dun dun fuck you red~”

“Im gonna fuc-” Just then Ink poked the back of Red’s neck as he slapped him in surprise “Don't scare me like that asshole!” 

“Hehe sorry!” He was not sorry obviously. Ink had two syringes that were a grey color, he went to Dust first.  
“What do you want this time?” He groaned as Ink got closer showing him the syringe, he grabbed his arm and quickly stuck it in, Dust held his breath trying not to whimper. “Aw it's okay Dust don't cry~” Ink rubbed Dust's back as he backed away warily. He grit his teeth and spat at Ink, he took a breath and reached in his pocket and pulled out a red vial, he gulped it down. Dust felt himself sweat as Inks eyes turned red with rage, Dust tried to get back but his head was slammed to the hard floor by ink, he cried and tried to get up but was repeatedly slammed onto the floor by Ink who started to laugh at the sight of marrow pouring out of his skull. Dust really couldn't believe Ink was doing this, though during battles he did always go for the head. He assumed it was just payback but at least back then he could fight back this wasn't even fair! He started to think about Cross and what would happen to him. He was genuinely scared for their lives, this is how they would die. Alone, tortured, scared....  
Everyone else was gone, he couldn't protect them, he failed...

“Please don't.. I'm so-”

“Sorry is not good enough.”

He put Dust's head near the wall and proceeded to kick his head over and over until he passed out.  
“D-Dust?” Cross began to panic as tears filled his eyes and his door swung open by an angry Ink, he took out the syringe and stabbed Cross in the arm with no warning. He screamed but instantly kept quiet after, too afraid to say or do anything else. Dust screams came to a quick halt as Cross had his head to the wall, he was already crying. He never wanted to fight anyone but Dust was his family and he was powerless to stop this. He knew that Red wanted some sort of revenge for Sci and he knew they wouldn't go easy on him. He just wanted to be with his family again...

Ink sighed and grabbed Cross's neck, he squeezed it as hard as he could as Cross struggled under his hold. Ink heard Red chuckle and grinned squeezing even harder on his neck, he finally released his hold. He went limp and stayed there, scared to even breathe. Ink left the room in satisfaction as Red came in, he stomped on Cross's head and he was shaking under the foot. He had never been so scared in his life, he was really hoping Dust wasn't dead. He closed his eyes and took the beating until he eventually passed out and Red left to join Ink. As he walked down the hall Ink he felt angry, the more he thought of Blue the more it angered him. He would be in much worse condition if Stretch wasn’t around but he was, so Ink had limits on what he could do. This was the perfect revenge in Ink's eyes as he thought of all the times Blue had taken the spotlight. All those times Dream and the others would praise Blue. It angered him at the fact that Blue even dated….. Ink couldn’t even think straight anymore, he’d have to go visit Cross again to take his anger out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightmare had spears in his tentacles to keep him from attacking anyone as well as chains on his ankles, wrists, and neck. All he could do is sit and wait for what was coming next, he never was one for surprises though. He didn't even know how long he had been here for but judging by the injuries, it had been a week and a half. He had a huge bandage on his stomach signifying that what he saw was real. He almost thought of it as an odd dream, nothing happened to him, everyone was okay and everyone was happy, including..

“Oh, you're awake. Good.” Nightmare looked up to see Stretch with a smug look on his face, he came into the room with a toolbox in hand. 

“You know, my bros been crying out for you. I feel sad that I had to give him to Ink so he could be taken care of.” Stretch took out a hammer and toyed with it before getting close to Nightmare, he snarled and struggled under the chains as Stretch grabbed one of his hands, he flattened it out before lining up the hammer with his fingers.

“What the fuck did you do to Blue you no good son of aaaAAaaaaAAAA-”  
He was actually awake to feel this part, even though Nightmare craved negativity it did not stop him from feeling it himself, his fingers now seemed like jelly as they were smashed in by Stretch who laughed maniacally. 

He breathed slowly trying to not cry out as the pain only seemed to grow, Stretch laughed at him once again and punched him in the face. “Where. Is. Blue.”

“Somewhere safe where you can't find him.”

“He's not safe if he's crying all the time! What kind of brother are you.” 

“I am a good brother.” He said coldly as he squeezed a broken finger, which rang a scream from Nightmare. He repeated himself and even started asking him if he was a good brother. He was totally losing it and Nightmare felt it.

“It wasn't even as bad as when Error took him, although he didn't tell me that they dated until later on.” Nightmares body tensed up, he thought Blue never dated anyone, bold of him to assume that one it seemed. “I don't want my bro dating anyone.” He continued as he looked through the toolbox again. They dated?? Blue and Error, the destroyer who was afraid of touch dated... the exact opposite of him? He knew Blue was kidnapped by Error so was it Stockholm syndrome? is that what he did to him? The thoughts started to cloud his mind as Stretch kept going.

"Thank god Ink knocked some sense into him, I owe him for that one."

“We aren't even going back to Underswap anymore, we're going to stay here and hopefully we will convince Blue to stop actually caring about you and leave you to rot. Who knows if he changes maybe he can come in and help me make you suffer even more.” His soul starts to beat rapidly only thinking of all the things they could be doing to Blue right now, it ate him inside knowing he couldn't do anything to help him. He didn't even know if his boys were safe, he couldn't feel them. As much as he wanted to cry he would never give Stretch the satisfaction, he already had the experience of hiding his feelings from people. Stretch was quick to once again go for his hands, he closed his eyes shut and tried to take himself out of the situation. He was worried for everyone else, he only hoped they were alive at this point. He wanted to think of the good things, the moments he would most likely never experience again. Horror's cooking, Dust's protectiveness, Cross's kindness, Killer's carefree attitude.... Blue. Something had risen in his mind from all the worry, how could he have not remembered this before! He remembered Nightmare and Dream used to play a game when he was uncorrupted, his dream hoping ability allowed this.

“I'm just gonna go, have fun with your hands.” With that Stretch closed the door behind him, Nightmare had to go to sleep, he had to see if he could reach Blue. He never used this power because he didn't like to intrude in people's dreams but both he and his brother had this ability, both brothers swore never to use this power. However, Nightmare felt he had no other option. He closed his eyes and thought of Blue trying to sync his dreams with his, he only hoped Blue was asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness surrounded Blue as he walked around “Hello? Helloooooo?”  
No answer…  
He continued to walk around seeing there was nothing but black, he sat down and curled up into a ball, he really hated being alone and that's all he's been for the past couple of days. He had been asleep for so long and being given shots by Ink, it was unbearable. He had only seen Dream once in his bed and ended up crying himself to sleep after, he looked like a dead body. He hated to admit it but soon he most likely would be a dead body if he stayed like this any longer. Suddenly he saw a bright cyan dot in the dark. Blue perked up in curiosity, this was a first...

“Hello? Is someone there?” The dot got closer as Blue stood up walking to them, he saw the darkness started to turn grey, except the darkness turned into the form of a dark skeleton. Blue stopped in shock as he felt tears run down his cheeks. It couldn't be...

“Nightmare!” He ran to him with open arms and was embraced by tentacles as Nightmare hugged him as hard as he could, he cried into his jacket and murmured how much he missed him. “I'm so sorry Nightmare this is my fault, we shouldn't have gone to meet them.”

He shushed him and wiped the tears off his face to try to comfort him. “This isn't your fault we didn't know what was going to happen. I don't blame you one bit for any of this.”  
They held each other for what seemed like forever, they eye each other up and down and it seemed like injuries did not follow them into their dreams.

“I am very hurt Blue, I am covered in bandages because of the battle. What has your brother and Ink been doing?” He looked down and shook his head.

“They have been horrible, they aren't the same people anymore... I don't even know if that person is my brother. They've been torturing me and hurting me this whole time, they said they'd kill all of you... How is everyone else? Are they okay?” Nightmare sadly shrugged not knowing where any of his boys were, it worried him to no end since he couldn't feel their presence either.

“I don’t know but I’m worried, we need to figure out a plan to get out of here, do you know where you are right now?”

“I think I'm in the Doodlesphere but I'm in the basement, or I'm in another room... I'm not sure anymore.”

“There's a basement?”

“There's an everything in Inks mind.”

Nightmare thought back to what Stretch said about using Blue to torture him, an idea popped into his head and though he didn't like it, it wouldn't hurt to suggest.

“Blue, your brother wants to use you against me, he wants you to help him hurt me. I have an idea but you have to be 100% in with it or else it won't work.” Blue nodded to Nightmare as he was prepared to do just about anything to get out of this place.

“Okay but if you don't feel up to it tell me. I need you to act as if you hate us and realize how bad we are, make yourself seem like you want revenge, and ask Ink to let you help Stretch hurt me as revenge. Once you are in, ask him to give you a minute alone with me, break me out and we will find the others.” Blue looked a bit nervous thinking about the plan there were definitely flaws and holes through it but this was their only shot.

“Okay I'm in but just know I would never hate you or hurt you.”

“Blue you're going to have to hurt me to prove to your brother that you're on their side-”

“I would never hurt you on purpose-”

“I know but I need you to play along. I won't be mad. I promise you're only doing this to protect us.” Blue reluctantly nodded his head and hugged Nightmare before he woke up getting the same horrible feeling that he was desperate to get away from.

Alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Nightmares back! But not good... But hey, hopefully, this plan works...
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	12. Prison break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue tries to act like he's changed and it might work.

Dream was awake the day after the battle, well he was supposed to be awake. The liquid Ink kept injecting in him was different every time but the effects were all the same. Stay asleep. Ink knew that Dream would be disgusted by his actions but what choice did he have? He was tired of fighting Nightmare all the time and he was tired of Blues pestering, he had an out and he took it. He knew Dream would forgive him soon as he would paint Nightmare to be the bad guy in all of this, he would be a hero as always! He had to be, that's the only reason he was here anyway. He was surprised Error hadn't shown up yet, he was really hoping to have him here soon like the rest of them. For now, he would be having fun with the others before tracking down the destroyer. 

“Ink I have great news!” Stretch said as happy as Ink had ever seen him, he ran and shook Ink as he excitedly spoke. He quickly closed Dreams door behind him as Stretch continued. 

“Blue said he’s not trusting Nightmare anymore, he said something about bad dreams and how Nightmare brainwashed him into thinking the multiverse balance bs. I am so happy and he even said he wanted to get back Nightmare for all the shit he put him through!” Ink was a bit suspicious but this was one step closer to his plan. Still, he would have to be careful with Blue, he wasn't sure what he was thinking.

“Stretch that's great news! I think I want to come along! I would love to see Blues progress!”

They went to the extra room where Blue sat drawing with crayons seeming as innocent as he had been. He looked up and waved excitingly “Ink! Brother! I've missed you guys, what took you so long?” He wined trying to be as dramatic as he could be, Ink smiled and rubbed Blue head and reached in for more affection. He would rather bite Ink's hand than reach in for more affection but he had to just play the role.

“Wow, he really has changed. Last time he pulled back and screamed at me! Blue, did you have bad dreams?”

“I did.. Nightmare and his gang were hurting me and I just wanted to leave but i-i just couldn’t.” Strech went to go rub Blue's back and shushed him comfortingly, though he would never want to be comforted by his brother again. They never hurt him, they were the complete opposite. They showed him what real friends do and he was still hurt that neither would listen. 

“It’s okay bro were gonna get Nightmare back for what he did and Inks gonna come with us.” Ink joined? Blue didn’t think that Ink would be interested but he still had to stick to the plan. He nodded happily as the three left the basement. Ink hit a button on the side of the wall and the wall opened to them, Blue had no idea there was another room in the Doodlesphere, he guessed Dream didn't know either as they continued down a flight of stairs. It grew darker and he felt a negative presence, he fought the urge to smile and run to Nightmare as they got closer. There were multiple doors on each side of the wall, he saw two of them that had purple marrow running down. His stomach instantly dropped, his eyes widened at the sight as Ink spoke. 

“Cross and Dust misbehaved so they got punished by both me and Red. Don't worry though we're keeping them alive! Just so we can see them suffer.”

Blue gulped as they passed the doors looking back ‘I'll come back for you’. The realization of what Ink had been planning hit him hard, he felt like crying at that point. Nightmare needed him so he just had to tough it out, he blinked until his tears stopped threatening to fall. The pain they must've felt during this whole time... He would make sure they never felt this type of pain again. He could only imagine what they looked like being those busted and blood stained doors.

As they reached the final door his stomach only felt worse. It looked scratched up and absolutely horrible, Blue never saw what happened to Nightmare so he tried to prepare himself but nothing could prepare him for this. Nightmare's hands were practically paste at this point and his face was cracked and bruised. His tentacles were oozing black liquid from the sharp spears, he looked exhausted. The dark puddle that surrounded his body was his own marrow, he wanted to throw up at the sight. For a moment Nightmare's eyes lit up seeing the smaller before he snarled at him and tried to lunge forward. Blue jumped back in surprise and fear.

“Why isn't he doing my bidding? What did you do to him?” Oh yeah, they had to be acting...

“I am not doing your bidding Nightmare, you can't control me anymore.” Blue said as confidently as he could, Stretch patted Blues back and gave him a hammer, he pointed to Nightmares foot. His feet seemed to be the only thing untouched, this only worsened Blue’s anxiety.

“I am going to heal all his wounds soon so he's clean for you to rough him up but you go at it bro!” Blue looked at Nightmares body and tried not to cry as he raised up the hammer aiming it for his calf, he figured it wouldn't be as bad as hitting his foot or knee. Were his hands shaking? Or was Nightmare shaking? No. They were both shaking... He hit it as softly as he could and Nightmare screamed, Blue hoped he was acting…

Stretch edged him on as Ink watched in satisfaction. Blue raised the hammer once again and stopped midway.

“Hold on… I need to tell him something really quick.” Ink raised an eyebrow in suspicion as Blue tried to think of an answer.

“I want to tell him something. I'm not super comfortable telling you guys yet..” Ink seemed sympathetic and sighed. He guessed they had to have done some bad things to Blue in order to get him to listen.

“Okay Blue we will be outside cleaning up, but be quick though.” Stretch groans at the thought of cleaning as the two left, closing the door behind them. Blue waited for a moment before smashing the chains on Nightmares legs and arms. He was still kept up right by the spears in his tentacles.

“It's okay… rip it out,” Nightmare said as Blue shook his head.

“Its gonna hurt and I already-”

“I was acting Blue I promise you didn’t hurt me,” Nightmare reassured as Blue grabbed the first spear. He ripped it out and Nightmare grit his teeth looking down. He hissed in pain as tears fell from Blue sockets.

"I-I I'm sorry.." Nightmare shook his head and tried to reassure Blue that he was fine.

“H-hurry, they’re gonna get suspicious. Trust me I’ll be fine,” Blue ripped out the last three as tears rose in Nightmares eyes, he quickly shut them and fought off the tears. Grabbing Nightmares bruised hands he closed his eyes and slowly healed them, they stayed together even when his hands were fully healed.  
“I missed you..”

“Me too my little star.”

“May I heal your other wounds?” Nightmare nodded as the smaller skeleton got to work quickly repairing every bruise on his body, he was one of the best healers around in Nightmares opinion. All he could do was smile at him as his body felt much more relaxed seeing Blue. He reached his hand to Blue's cheek and wiped off the rest of his tears, he didn't want to feed off of this kind of negativity. Blue took a deep breath to control himself as he finally spoke.

“I know where Cross and Dust are but I don't know where everyone else is.”

“You do? Where are they and are they alright?” He could only look down sadly as he shook his head “There's marrow coming out from both their doors so I guess they've been tortured..” Nightmare was fuming, he wanted those two dead for what they did.

“Don't worry they won't suffer for long.” Once Nightmare was fully recovered Blue carefully opened the door and saw Ink and Stretch cleaning, having their back to them, Nightmares tentacles quickly shoved their way out the door and repeatedly slammed their heads to the floor knocking them out quickly. They ran out the doors finding their way to Cross and Dust. Nightmare frantically opened the doors and saw the two busted up skeletons on the floor unconscious. They were dusting and this only made things worse, Cross especially had it bad with a busted skull and his right arm hanging on by a small piece of bone. Dust had a lot of bruises and cracks around his whole body with his face being hit the most with marrow on the wall, it seemed like a splatter of it. He grabbed the two dying skeletons and held Blue close. The adrenaline was sending Nightmare into a frenzy as he tried to think of where they should go. For now, the castle seemed like the best option since no one knew how to get there anyway.

“Alright, we're going to go back to the castle and see if anyone else is there.” Blue nodded as they faded away.

"NO GET BACK HERE!" Stretch screamed as he reached the doors. They were gone, he had his brother back and now he got taken away again. He felt himself tear up and quickly covered his face. Ink stood up, he didn't feel anything. Why did he think this would work? Blue wasn't on his side anymore. He was gonna pay for this betrayal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stretch is very delusional and I doubt that he is gonna recover from this one. Its okay though! He has a lot going through his mind and his over-protectiveness that is definitely NOT borderline obsession may have just gotten the best of him...  
> But at least Blue and Nightmare got out, with an on the brink of death Cross and Dust! I'm sure they're fine...
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	13. Small outburst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horror isn't coping very well with everything going on.

“It's been a fucking week and a half..” 

“I know but we'll find them Horror.”

“Y-y-yeah don't w-worry about it.”

The two tried to calm Horror down as he imagined all the things that could be happening to them, the world seemed so bleak without them. They stayed in the void for a while so they wouldn't have to go back to the castle, thank god Error welcomed them with open arms as he did not want to be alone either. He opened a portal and grabbed some chips passing them to the other two, they all sat quietly trying not to think about their impending doom, Ink would find them eventually and they didn't know where anyone else was. For now, they had given up trying to find them until they could make a better plan.

“I need to check the fridge.” Killer instantly held Horrors shoulders as he stood up, he tried to push Killer off of him.

“Let go I need to check it.” Horror was now struggling against Killer and tried to pry him off. He felt himself reverting back to when Nightmare and Killer first took the broken skeleton in.

“Horror no, we’re staying here.”

"What if there's no food there? They're gonna starve!” Error sat and watched it all unfold, not sure what was going on.

“Horror please man calm down, we gotta stick together. I promise you there's food in the fridge we’ll check it once we go back home!” Horror struggled against Killer and started to panic. He was hyperventilating and saw all the white swirl around, he wanted to see food… Why wasn’t he seeing food?? Why wasn't he seeing anything???

“GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!” He punched Killer in the jaw who fell back, Error used his strings to wrap him up. He was going crazy, he fought against the string as Error screamed.

“O-O-OKAY TH-THAT'S EN--ENOUGH.” Horror was screaming the whole time as Killer laid on the floor holding his now bruised jaw in shock. Having verbal and screaming fights were the norm for them but physical was the last thing he expected from Horror, he had always been the peacemaker in the group. The most level headed one and pretty much the one Nightmare had trusted with certain things. Killer felt hurt that he couldn't calm Horror down. When Nightmare wasn't here has in charge and he couldn't protect them like he said he would. His carefree attitude seemed to get the best of him this time and he curled up on himself before tears threatened to spill.

Horror was raised to the sky, he started to slow his breathing and looked down at Killer who held his jaw. Tears started to prick at the corner of his eyes, he started apologizing while trying to reach out to him. 

“Killer.. Oh god I’m so sorry I didn’t mean..” Error slowly let him down after a while and he ran to Killer who stayed on the floor. When Horror got close Killers breathing was fast and he couldn’t focus. Error went to get some snacks and water for them again, when he returned Horror and Killer were hugging each other. Both were crying messes and he assumed they were making up or something. He sat far away as to not disturb and wondered if this was how it was back at the castle or if this was a rare occurrence. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean it..”

“It's okay man I get it, you’re scared.. I am too but we gotta stay together, that way it's not as scary.” Error sighed in relief, he was grateful he didn’t have to do Nightmares job as a babysitter. Trying to calm down they gladly accepted the snacks from Error.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you wanna talk about Nightmare and Blue? You seemed pretty… upset about it earlier.”

“N-no… w-w-well..” Error sighed remembering the fond memories of Blue and himself. “W-we really l-l-liked each other and…. W-w-we started d-dating, once his b-brother found out I-Ink said s-s-some things to him. A-after a while B-Blue wasn't the same, he w-w-was more r-r-reserved.” He looked down sadly as he finished, he couldn't deny the fact that he still had feelings for Blue but whatever Ink said to him changed all of that. Killer and Horror could only listen as strings around Errors eyes multiplied as he rubbed them. Killer had a feeling seeing as how he reacted to the mention of him and Nightmare being together, Horror on the other hand hadn’t realized a thing. He was shocked to hear that Error had dated Blue. Back then Error would always give an excuse not to meet up because he had to destroy a universe, thinking about how it was just so he could go see Blue most likely. 

“I’m sorry man, that's rough.” Horror pats his back as they continue to sit in silence. It was a surprise to Error that Blue and Nightmare were together, he just hoped Nightmare was happy. He was fine not having anyone if it meant Nightmare got someone to love. Curiosity did hit him as the thoughts of them being together sparked many questions. Obviously Stretch and Ink weren't in the picture with Blue at the moment and Dream was still in a coma. Would Blue just never go back home in Underswap? He still had Alphys and Undyne, the social skeleton had many acquaintances so he would be enticed to go back at least one point. Eventually, they would have to right? There was no reason not to.

“If you want once we find Nightmare and Blue we can talk about it.” Killer offered to which Horror replied, “Nightmare doesn't even know, also Error why didn't you even tell us that you dated Blue?”

“I didn't r-realize it w-w-was im--important.”

“What?? Of course, it was important we had no idea and now Blue is dating Nightmare! How do you feel..”

“A--as sad as I-I- am I w-w-want Blue to b-b-be happy, N-n-nightmare deserve s-s-something nice to.”

“Well, Error if you ever need to talk about it we're here for you.” The glitchy skeleton smiled at his friends and allowed for a group hug. It was relieving that his friends were there for him even if he didn’t like to talk a lot. He wished Ink would just die already he was so tired of his shit. They wouldn't even be in this mess if it weren't for him! How could he even do something like this, it was definitely not positive. Why was he even doing this, he knew that Ink had violent tendencies at times but he never expected him to go this far. What was going on with Ink anyway, the creator had never done something like this before. There had to be something going on in the background that none of them could see and he was dying to find out what it was. For now though, they just had to find everyone else and then they could go from there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the castle Nightmare laid his gang mates on the couch as Blue got to work on healing them, he couldn't stand to see them like that so he quickly walked away to make some food. The wounds on both Cross and Dust broke the small skeleton as he did his best to make them better. Seeing how they were treated enraged Blue thinking of how he always trusted Ink and then he goes and does this? Blue never cared about what they did to him but once it was other people he was ready to destroy someone. Pure hatred was all he felt as his magic began to weaken from using it so much, he stopped healing Dust's broken arm and rubbed his temple. Doing this always made the small skeleton tired and the last time he did it with Nightmare he didn't get tried based on pure adrenaline. He had never done anything faster other than that and he was glad he did. Ink would have gone crazy if he saw what Blue had been doing, it only hit him now on just how close he could've gotten caught by Ink. They would've been done for if he was caught and thanked the stars he wasn't.

“Hey it's okay Blue, take a rest.” Nightmare came in with a bowl of cut watermelon and crouched down next to Blue as they examined how badly they were hurt. He felt the negativity radiating off of Blue as he thought of all the horrible things they must have endured, he put the bowl down and rubbed Blue shoulders trying to get the worked up skeleton to relax.

“This wasn't supposed to happen, why wouldn't Ink just listen to me..” He said nothing and wrapped his tentacles and arms around Blue letting him vent his feelings. 

“I don't think this is what you signed up for Nightmare..” He looked confused as he continued.

“I mean I still don't know why you were even interested in me, can I confess something..?” Nightmare nodded trying to see what he was leading onto.

“When I was captured by Error I was so scared, I had my phone so I could talk to Papyrus but it still didn't help that I didn’t know where I was.” He knew they would say that they dated, he would never press Blue to admit that he dated him but it was nice he said things on his own terms.

“But Error was nice to me, he heard voices and I helped calm him down from it.. I think he even went to visit you guys at some point while I was there. After a while, we became friends and even closer..” This was it.

“I don't want to make things awkward with you and Error but we dated for a month or so, Ink said some terrible things to me that made me not like him, but because of what he did today I realized it was all a lie.” Blue looked down sadly.

“I don't want to get back with him but I know I really hurt him and I didn’t want to do that, it wasn’t fair to him..”

“I’m sure he would forgive you.. I don't hold grudges and I know you still care about him, I just didn’t know you and him were a thing.” Blue nodded and ate a piece of watermelon, they stayed cuddled up together.

“What do you think Ink will do if he finds us.”

"Probably kill us..”

Well he guessed it didn't matter as he was finally back with Nightmare, to him that's all that mattered. Everything he knew was a lie to him, he didn’t even know when Dream would wake up.. If he would ever wake up. He felt tears running down his cheek as Nightmare held him even closer kissing his cheek and wiping the tears off his eyes.

“Don’t cry I promise everything will be okay, I won't let anything happen to you.” 

“I don’t want anyone to hurt you either, especially Ink and my brother.” He looked guilty hearing Blue bring up his brother.

“We shouldn’t have taken you like that and for that I apologize. I never wanted to ruin your relationship with him.” Blue shrugged to him “I knew we wouldn’t be so happy with each other after a while, he didn’t like any of my friends and would always want me around him.”  
He nodded hearing this and looked relaxed as Blue began to breathe more regularly, he kissed him on the cheek this time with Blue realizing it. He blushed so bad and he covered his face as Nightmare chuckled at him.

After a while Blue began to heal the two broken skeletons again with Nightmare by his side watching him intently trying to see how he healed. He remembered how calming it felt when Blue healed him, though he always felt calm when Blue was around. He really couldn't believe all of the things that have happened in the past month. He wasn't upset about getting Blue but everything else, he didn't even know where half of his team were and the ones he had were on the brink of death. He felt like he failed as a leader, he was supposed to protect them but look at them! Nightmare couldn't even get that right.

“I hope they are gonna be okay after.”

“We're going to see in a minute.”

It had been at least three hours and Blue just started to get to Cross’s injuries but his magic weekend again and Dust was fully healed but in a deep sleep. Nightmare had been trying to convince him to take a break as he tirelessly continued. His arms were extremely sore from them staying in the same position for so long. Not wanting to stop he shook his head every time Nightmare tried to grab his arms to make him stop. But the larger wasn't having it today.

“Blue, that's enough it's time to go to sleep.” A tentacle wrapped itself around Blue waist, he walked into the master room. Blue had never seen Nightmares room before and boy was it a sight. The room had a dark blue wallpaper and black silk sheets, he had a nightstand next to each side of the bed. There was a crown on the left side of the nightstand which assumed it was his, there was a bathroom in the room and a closet room as well. It was huge, he was placed on the right side of the bed and was tucked in by his goopy boyfriend. Nightmare grabbed an extra blanket and laid on the floor. Blue looked down on the floor in confusion as Nightmare tried to make himself comfortable. 

“Night? Why are you on the floor?”

“Im gonna sleep…?”

“You aren't going to just sleep here?” Blue pointed right next to him and he blushed, he hesitantly nodded and went to lay down next to Blue. Nervous as he could be he hesitantly laid next to Blue and was stiff as a board. Being brave Blue's hand slowly crept to Nightmare's to grab his attention.

“... I'm a bit nervous too but this is nice,” Blue said calmly as he wrapped his arms around Nightmare's waist. He wrapped his whole body around Blue in return and he made sure the smaller was comfortable before they went to sleep cuddled up together. Though all of these things were happening around him Blue was happy he was in the arms of his lover once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to add some fluff at the end, those two are just so cute together! Hopefully Cross and Dust wake up soon or it'll be another Dream situation.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	14. You're not alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of fluff, a bit of angst. Blue and Error have a small talk.

“Okay, are you ready to go back?” Killer asked the other two as he grabbed his knife, they nodded and headed back home worried about how there would be no one there but them. As much as they didn’t want to go they didn’t have much of a choice. Ink would find them and they were as good as dead. However, to their surprise, they find Dust and Cross in the living room asleep. Both of them on the couch with marks and bruises on them. 

“GUYS!” Horror screamed as they ran to them, tears filled his sockets as he grabbed both of them, Killer and Error looked at each other in disbelief. There was no way they could have gotten here without any help, they seemed way too weak, but they didn't want to ruin the moment. Killer saw that Nightmares room was lit up, was he home??

Killer raced into the bedroom to see Nightmare writing something down as Blue curled in the bundle of blankets. “B-boss…” He turned around and was tackled by Killer who held him close. His tentacle curled around his body as he choked back a sob. He couldn’t believe it, there they were. All in one piece and safe!

“I.. I thought you died… He… Stretch stabbed you..”

“I assure you Killer I'm fine and I'm glad you are too.”

“I'm sorry I left I didn't want to leave you behind but..but” Nightmare instantly shushed him understanding the pain he went through making such a difficult choice.

“Killer you had to make a decision and I would rather have one of us be gone than all of us, you protected the ones you were able to and for that I thank you, I don’t know what would’ve happened if you two didn’t escape.”

“I feel like I betrayed you by leaving but I really did help?”

“Of course, you need to start realizing how important you are, you distracted Stretch, and even though he got me you did your best to protect everyone.” Killer relaxed as Error walked in seeing Blue sleeping. It got very tense in the room as Nightmare silently studied the glitchy skeleton. He had nothing to say, it had been a long time since he had seen him. “Error you don't have to worry, I know about you and Blues history. However, you and I have a history too.” Error looked confused.

“We destroyed so many worlds together and I'd like to say I think we really bonded over that, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable Error, so please if this bothers you, as a friend I'm always here to listen. Blue told me Ink said a lot of things that he regrets leaving as well. Error you are a part of this gang and even if you aren’t here all the time you are still a valued member.” He was still unsure, yes he had been a part of the gang but he had to have some negative feeling towards him for it. 

“I-I j-j-just want to know i-i-if you a-a-are happy.”

"I am, I'm just surprised you never mentioned you two were an item at one point."

"D-D-Didn't think i-i-it was i-important." Killer face palmed himself and shook his head.

"He said the same thing to Horror and I when we asked about it," The teary-eyed skeleton said.

"Well I think it's important, we would have been more than accommodating to you dating one of the Stars." Nightmare spoke, Error smirked hearing the words, and answered.

"Welp t-t-too late n-n-now." Error said nonchalantly.

"But s-s-still I am g-g-glad you're h-happy a-a-and s-safe."

“Thank you, seeing you and Killer makes me happier, I know you two are safe and that's all that matters.”

“That's the thing boss were all here! Horror was with us too!” Nightmare perked up and walked to the door excited to see his gang mate again, he had a tentacle gently shake Blue awake, Error got nervous and felt his glitching get worse as his eyes met Blues. He jumped in surprise seeing his ex again. He didn't know how to feel, he looked to Nightmare who said nothing, and watched his reaction.

“Error! Um… It's good to see you again…” Error froze as he had to reboot, waiting for a second to calm down.

“G-G-G-Good to s-s-s-s-see you too..”

“I'm leaving you two in here to talk and catch up while I go see Horror okay?” With that, it was just Blue and Error now not knowing what to say to each other, Blue fumbling with his scarf as Error played with his strings trying not to look at him. There was crying in the background...

“Error.. I’m so sorry that I stopped talking to you, Ink told me all these horrible things about you and I was so stupid to actually believe it. I just want you to know that if you hate me I understand and-”

“W-W-Why would I-I hate you? I-I-Ink manipulated you i-i-into thinking things about me, I d-d-don’t harbor a-a-any ill will towards y-y-you. Though I-I-I-I wish y-you would’ve s-said s-something.” Blue looked down sadly, he didn’t want to just ghost Error but that was exactly what he did. The rumors that spread about him and all the things Ink and Dream had to say really changed his perspective of him. The times they would talk after that would be awkward, to say the least, Error was worried about Blue since he would only give one-word responses to him. He couldn’t understand why he was suddenly so distant. Soon the talks became shorter and visits started to slow until Error never heard from the small skeleton. His care never disappeared but he wished he had an answer as to why and after some searching and finding out people told him rumors it broke him.

It came to a point where Nightmare would find him in their cabinet eating all their chocolate and crying his eyes out. Error would still never talk about it since he enjoyed keeping things to himself. If he could he would forget that all of that happened, including dating Blue in the first place.

“I-I-I want to b-b-be friends and forget t-t-that we dated, that way w-w-we can still have a g-g-good platonic r-r-relationship.”

“Yeah I would like that a lot, I do miss when we would hang out.” Error smirked thinking of the times they would try and bond. Blue had made small get-to-know-you games that really annoyed Error at first but the more they played the more he enjoyed it.

Blue agreed as they continued to talk out their feelings. After a long discussion, they went outside to see Nightmare cradling Horror who was crying loudly. They could hear Nightmare telling him that he didn’t need to worry and everyone was alright.

“Horror! Killer!” Blue ran and gave them a hug as he felt the happiest he had ever been in a long time, he was relieved he wasn’t alone anymore. “Are you two okay now?” Nightmare asked the two skeletons as they smiled at him.

“W-W-We’re going to pretend we never dated s-s-so we can p-p-put the past b-b-behind us.”Blue agreed as he continued for him “I hope this will make things less awkward as we just go back to being friends and do what we did before!”

“What did you do before?” Horror asked, Error got out a pair of strings and explained that Blue had wanted to learn to knit and crochet but when they tried he got his fingers wrapped and trapped inside so they never tried it again, until now at least.

“Dust and Cross are still asleep and it seems like they won't be waking up anytime soon.” Nightmare said as he went to the kitchen with Horror to start breakfast. Blue sat with Error and Killer on the couch, he wondered where they had been this whole time but he was just glad they were all here and safe.

“Hey Blue, did you get to see Dream by any chance?” Killer asked Blue nodded his head.

“I did see him, he was still asleep but something was off about him…” Killer asked to go into detail as everyone listened in.

“Well at first I thought it was just because of him not being well from the tree but his eyelids were dark and looked like someone put eyeshadow on him. I don't know but I have a bad feeling in my stomach thinking about it.”

“L-L-Like a k-k-knot?” He nodded to Error and they just sat there waiting for Nightmare and Horror to be done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ink sat on the dinner table and looked at his vial, the yellow vials running low, Stretch was still here not even moppy but angered at the fact that his brother tricked him.

“Nightmare can't control minds can he?” Stretch asked as Ink slowly nodded, he punched the wall and proceeded to walk away. Ink knew how hurt Stretch was at Blues betrayal, they tried to help him! But Blue was too selfish to actually even consider that they just wanted what was best for him, he may not have liked their approach but it was necessary! Now they had no Blue and no extra member which meant more negativity! This was a whole mess and Ink knew he’d have to do something drastic, he didn’t even care for Blue anymore he just wanted people to spread positivity.

‘I need to make this process go by faster, I don't even have people to test my liquids on’ Ink told himself as went to Dreams room. He had brought Blue here to say hello but he knew that Dream's body couldn't take the liquids anymore, his body was turning hollow and his bones were grey like. He grabbed another syringe and stuck it in Dream's arm, his body began to shake slightly and Ink just forced him down until he stopped shaking. This was wrong and Ink knew it, all he did was poison his friend just to kill his brother while he’s not around. He grabbed the yellow vial and put it in his room, he made sure to never drink from another vial so it would make things easier. No feelings, no remorse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though they haven't actually said anything Error has a lot of build-up resentment towards the whole situation but refused to say anything for Blue's sake. Nightmare is just upset he wasn't told any of this and really feels out of the loop at the moment. Hopefully, it will be okay... Hopefully.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	15. Idea time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare remembered he can actually do something useful.

Two weeks had passed with everyone in the gang checking up on Cross and Dust. Their injuries were fully healed thanks to Blue and they only had to wait for them to wake up. Error was also trying to show Blue how to use strings but he always messed it up as usual. Nightmare was routinely checking up on everyone as his worry for his family grew, he was especially worried for the return of Ink. He wondered if he had told anyone else of the events that had taken place, it scared him to think that he wasn't the only one waiting for their turn of vengeance on him and the gang. Soon Cross and Dust woke up and they couldn't have been happier. Dust was confused as Horror pounced on him with tears in his eyes, he happily allowed the hug. When Cross woke up Nightmare was the most upset, he hated how he acted before the fight.

"Cross, I didn't mean to push you're feeling aside. I know you were just looking out for everyone." Nightmare apologized as Cross only got up and hugged him.

"I don't care about that anymore, I'm just glad we all made it out alive." Cross thankfully said, he had feared the worst once Nightmare was stabbed. Both of them ended up having a heart-to-heart and made up quickly. Everyone in the gang had their arguments but it never lasted for more than a day as they didn't want to stay mad at each other.

Soon the atmosphere in the castle was calm and everyone was trying to relax after what had happened. With that said Nightmare realized he had to make some ground rules and plans, he wasn't sure what Ink had in store but he didn't want to find out.

“I want to make some things clear with everyone.” Nightmare said as he stared at everyone who was on the couch.

“Don't know what Ink and Stretch are planning, but for now I don't think we should be causing havoc instead we will lay low until things are looking a bit better. I suggest we all try to stay….”

“Don't say it boss there has to be another word!” Killer playfully screamed.

“Happy!”

“Joyful?”

“How about helpful?”

Everyone was throwing suggestions as Nightmare frantically sighed “Say what you want, I'm just not going to say it.” Everyone went off to do their own thing as Blue grabbed Nightmare's arm.

“Wanna go watch TV?”

“Sure.”

They went to Nightmares room instead of with everyone else, they definitely got comfortable being close to one another which made Nightmare soul flutter with nervousness and happiness as his little blue star snuggled with him in bed. They haven't even kissed but Nightmare knew he didn’t need all that stuff unless Blue wanted to, after Blue saved him he grew even more comfortable after showing him his vulnerable side.

“Hey, Nighty?”

“Yes, Blue?”

“Um... I just wanted to say thank you.”

“Why thank you?”

“Well you saved me, I didn't have many friends, and the ones I did have were horrible to me and even though you kidnapped me that was probably the best thing that's ever happened to me.” He squeezed him harder and curled himself into his side as he continued “I really do like you, you were nice to me even when I was annoying and wasn't being all cheery! I’m just happy to be around you that's all.”

Nightmare kissed Blue's forehead and laughed at him “Blue look I feel the same way, I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I may have not done the best job but I'll try harder okay?”

“Hehe okay but you’re already doing your best.” Blue smiled as they watched TV together, he wanted to be like this forever. He loved being here and was so joyed when Nightmare told him he could stay. However, something was logged into Blue's mind as his boyfriend switched channels. He noticed the bright golden headband that reminded him of a certain sleeping skeleton.

“Hey, what do you think about getting Dream?” 

“When did this pop-up?”

“I don't know I’ve been thinking about him a lot, he is still my friend but I understand you have a complex relationship with him.” Nightmare thought for a moment, from what Blue had been saying about Dream and his condition had him wondering if being in a coma for this long was just an accident. Still inside he did care about his brother but he had no idea if any of this was malicious or not, he wanted to just see his face and see how bad things were. They would have to wait as of right now every universe was on high alert due to recent events...

“Blue you do realize Ink and Stretch are still there with him right?” He nodded in understanding but hoped later to convince him to do a rescue mission.

“Let's just drop this okay Blue? I don’t really want to talk about it.” Blue nuzzled up in Nightmares chest and apologized for bringing it up. The last thing he wanted to do was make him upset so they stayed silent watching tv, still enjoying each other's company.

Everyone else was in the living room watching TV, as the credits rolled Dust looked to Nightmare's room. “So what do you guys think Romeo and Juliet are doing in there?”

“Hehe nice one.” Horror said as he ate some popcorn.

“Oh do you think Nightmare is the big spoon or little spoon?” Killer teased as they all laughed, Error scoffed and threw a string at Killer's cheek.

“H-He’s the l-l-little s-spoon.”

“How do you know?”

“I-I-I just k-know.”

“Look whatever he is we can all agree that he is gonna be a total simp for Blue.”

“H-H-He already i-i-is.”

They joked and laughed about Nightmare until they were interrupted by a tentacle to the face. They all jumped and were face flushed as they turned to their Boss. 

“Alright boys enough banter, I'm gonna make dinner.”

“Are you sure you don't want me to cook boss?” Horror offered as he sat up, Nightmare was quick to push him back down shaking his head. “You all have been through a lot, allow me to take care of you for once.”

They all relaxed in the living room as Nightmare cooked dinner, Blue protested that he wanted to stay with Nightmare but was promptly thrown onto the coach and was squished between Killer and Dust. Horror also had wanted to be in there but he realized Nightmare needed this, knowing how his Boss worked.

Nightmare would be doing a lot of things if stressed which would include cleaning, reading, yelling, and cooking. He wanted to take his mind off the fact that Dream was still asleep. Wait he was asleep and if he's asleep...

He got the most amazing idea as he fried the garlic he put in the pan, he could go into his brother's dream and find him, figure out just what in the hell is going on and try to put an end to all of this. He added the steak and tossed some herbs with it, getting a spoon to throw the liquid back on the meat for flavor. He hoped his brother wasn't in so much pain, just a little bit.

The smell of food carried out to the living room with a bunch of drooling skeletons dying to see what he made. Blue and Dust slowly crept towards the kitchen as the smell practically pulled them in, seeing a pot with tentacle mashing potatoes and Nightmare searing the steak the skeletons tried to sneak to only be thrown out by Nightmare. They felt like they were being starved and groaned as they sat around.

They hungrily waited for another thirty minutes before Nightmare called them to the dinner table, and boy did it look good. Decorations were all over the table and the food looked so good, steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli. They all sat down and were practically drooling. All Nightmare did was nod his head as everyone went to town. He rarely cooked since Horror always did but whenever he cooked they couldn't help but be impressed by his skills. 

“Ids it okay?” Nightmare asked as everyone nodded their heads.

"I-I-I-It's great!" Error praised as he cut a piece of his steak.

As they ate, Nightmare wrapped a tentacle around Blues shoulders and laughed in response. Later on, they watched a movie and went to bed, Nightmare was thinking of a plan to get his brother the whole time ever since he started dinner. Blue did have a point, Dream could not be in a coma for more than long without something being wrong. He wondered if he could even see Dream if he was in a coma. It was still technically being asleep right? He didn't want to assume but it was worth a shot. If this could stop Ink and everything he's done then it would be worth it.

Nightmare closed his eyes and tried to force himself to fall asleep but being so worried and stressed didn’t really help him at all. He was squirming in bed and was getting frustrated. Doing this caused Blue to wake up later on seeing Nightmare was stressed, feeling brave Blue grabbed Nightmare's face and pulled it towards his giving him a quick peck and rubbing his skull lovingly to his. Nightmare immediately went cyan and looked wide-eyed to Blue. The smaller smirked and cuddled up close and made sure Nightmare was comfortable.

“Go to sleep nighty it's okay, I'm here for you.” Nightmare melted at the action and held Blue close as he finally went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I could have done better with this chapter but I really wanted to add some fluff before the wave of angst that's coming.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	16. Family feud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dream doesn't know what is going on and Nightmare has a long talk.

Dreams body felt so cold as he laid down in the room he had been in, having no idea how he got there he screamed for someone to help him but got no response. The room was grey and all he had was a bed and blanket. He was confused and tried to do whatever he could think of to get out but to no avail. It felt like forever since he heard another person's voice and it was driving him mad. No windows, no light, no door. It felt like prison and Dream didn’t even know what he did wrong!

Sometimes he would reflect on some of the things he had done, he learned to regret some things and be proud of others. One thing he regretted was not being able to help his brother sooner and he could have been more inviting to Blue when he first joined. He tried to remember how he even got here in the first place, only remembering the battle and being thrown into a tree by his brother and that was it. He fought himself to remember everything, but it was a blur. There would be times where he would cry trying to get over the guilt that always crept on him when he was alone. Maybe That's why he preferred to surround himself with so many people, to ignore the guilt.

He sat up on the bed and stayed there bored. Suddenly Dream's shadow slithered over him and was now in front of him, he was quick to act as he got in a fighting stance. He would have gotten his bow but it wasn’t summoning when he tried, the shadow stood up tall right in front Dream as he stepped back. He slipped and fell only to be caught by his brother who gently set him down, he looked in awe. He was actually here? Why? How?

“Dream… are you alright?” He almost sounded worried and from what Dream was feeling he was worried.

“I'm fine brother but why do you care?”

“Because your so-called ‘friend’ is a monster and is hurting everyone.” Dream asked for more information which Nightmare happily continued wanting him to know every detail. After explaining to him all the things he did to Blue and the other he finally decided to ask.

“Do you know if Ink has been poisoning you?”Dream stared at him in disbelief, Ink was his friend he would never hurt him like that right? He shook his head in response “Ink would never do that to me.” 

“You’re more delusional than I thought,”

They sat on opposite sides of the room now staying silent, was there even anything to say at this point? Dream was in a room with his brother and they had never talked like this in years, but what led up to this conversation hurt him, knowing that his brother had been suffering hurt him and he was one of the causes of this pain. He never thought Ink would do such things, his brother can be manipulative so why believe him? Though Nightmare had mentioned Blue he was worried for his friend.

“How is Blue?”

“Were dating.”

“WHAT?” Nightmare nodded his head happily as he thought of his little star holding his sleeping body right now, keeping him safe from all his worries. Dream almost felt like laughing, Blue and his brother out of all people, Blue really did have a thing for bad boys.

“Brother, do you know where my body is right now?”

“Blue said it was back at the Doodlesphere which is why I am here in the first place.” Dream tipped his head in confusion as Nightmare explained.

“We are going to get your body and bring you back to our base, Ink will probably listen to you because he never would have thought to do any of this until you went into a coma, seriously you have been asleep for almost two months.”

“Well, who do I have to thank for that?” Dream said defensively as he stood up the guilt was creeping again. “All this time I just wanted to help you and all I get in return is you trying to push me away, how is that fair and how do you expect me to trust someone I barely know?” Dream ranted as Nightmare looked at him in shock. Dream took a breath before he continued.

“Brother I need you to open up to me, that's the only way I can help you. It’s not too late you can chang-”

“Change myself back into the scared person I was? To be abandoned and beaten up by people in that fucking village? Just because they loved and adored you doesn’t mean they did the same for me. I didn’t ask to fucking be here, nor did I ask to be the guardian of fucking negativity, I didn’t want any of this!”

“So why didn’t you tell me then! Why couldn't you have just said they hurt you? Why did you lie to me saying you fell or you ran into something or come with some other excuse? Why was it just lies brother?” Nightmare stayed quiet; he was seething with anger and resentment towards everything including Dream.

“You just don’t understand Dream.”

“Then explain it to me! Tell me, I want to understand! I know if I could have talked to them they would have stopped, If you told me I would have done everything in my power to stop it then maybe you wouldn't have become a..”

“A monster, there I finished your sentence, I get it. I'm a monster who's done so many terrible things that I'm beyond redemption at this point.” Dream was hurt by his words but just wanted him to understand that's not what he meant.

“No, no brother you aren't a monster, you’re just different and that's okay! But I need you to know that I will fight for you and I know we can put this all behind us and start a new relationship going forward!” Dream walked to Nightmare and put a hand on his shoulder only to be slapped away immediately, Nightmare stood up with anger.

“You don’t know anything! You never knew the amount of pain I went through, you don’t even care! You only care about yourself and your god damn reputation!” Dream stood up angrily how could his own brother think like this?

“Why don’t you think I care!Why do you think I only care about myself? If I did, why do you think I came to try and find you after I was out of that statute prison? Don't you think they would have stopped if you told me what was happ-”

“THEY WOULD HAVE FUCKING HURT YOU TO AND I WOULD RATHER IT BE ME THAN YOU DREAM ALRIGHT?” Dream was silenced quickly by Nightmares words seeing bright cyan tears run down his brother's cheeks.

“Didn’t you think I wanted to tell you? I was scared okay, I just wanted you to be safe and I was willing to do anything to make sure it happened… Even if it meant I got hurt in the process. You have no idea what they did to me and you never will because I never wanted you to feel the way I felt all those years ago.” He rubbed his eyes trying to not cry but felt the tears running steady as Dream approached closer, he wrapped his arms around his brother.

He was frustrated, he didn't want to just have Dream be so close like this. He couldn't have blamed Dream for everything but there was so much pain when he'd see him. Dream was everything Nightmare wasn't and he was punished severely for it, none of it was fair. All of the things he had to go through because he was born this way while his brother got all the love. He got everything he wanted and more. He let go and allowed himself the comfort as Dreams arms lovingly surrounded him, he held back but tighter as he sobbed into his chest. Dream apologized for not helping and he promised he would try to be more attentive to him and what he needs, they both stayed together and cried for what seemed like forever until they finally calmed down. 

“I never knew they hurt you so bad..”

“I’m surprised you didn’t, you did know all the things they’d say about me,” Nightmare said as Dream sadly nodded.

“I thought it was just gossip and rumors but I never knew they attacked you, I’m sorry I never noticed.”

“...I’m sorry for blaming you for everything, neither of us asked to be in this role.” Nightmare finally said as Dream smiled a bit.

"I know you think everything was sunshine and rainbows for me brother but, it really wasn't" The taller looked to Dream as he continued.

"I mean I think there is positive negativity. When I say that I mean someone feels positive when they do something bad. I used to feel it from people whenever they went to see you, I was too scared to say anything and I was confused as well. I just never understood that the people in the village were so... evil, and if I could've done something since I knew they had that mind of positivity I would've." Dream finally stated as Nightmare looked at him in confusion. Positive negativity? Well, there was negative positivity in his case as well. Usually, when someone would allow the ones they love to leave and it was a bit of a sappy feeling. The negativity was still there but had a hint of positivity to it for the person. It was odd Dream knew about this and even had his own type of feeling like that, it was the only way the brothers got to feel what the other felt.

"I really am sorry brother, I tried to blame you for everything but I knew this was happening and I did nothing... I really don't deserve to have someone like you in my life." The smaller said.

"Dream look... I had no idea you knew or could do that, I don't care about it anymore so how about we just drop it?" Nightmare said as he was tired of talking about their past.

“Okay, brother but when this is all over and I wake up I want us to start our relationship again, I don’t want to lose you again.” Nightmare was quiet for a moment, he felt the same way but he did not want to say it.

“....I want to try as well, but don’t get your hopes up.” Nightmare said as Dream smiled at him. It was progress and that's all that mattered to Dream. They relaxed and talked until Nightmare decided he needed to get back and said goodbye to Dream.

And then he woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think another example could be going through a loss, you have a heavy pain of losing someone but understand that they are no longer in pain being a sort of happy sadness to you. Anyway, Nightmare still doesn't feel good about Dream but at least he got stuff off of his chest. Dream on the other hand still needs to do some reflecting...
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	17. Rescue mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare does something stupid and everyone is mad at him for it.

Nightmare woke up somewhat relieved he finally got things out of his chest, except for Blue of course as he was right on top of it. Smiling to himself he rubbed Blues back affectionately as he thought of his conversation with his brother. He needed to get through to him that Ink is behind all of this, there evidence to prove it for god's sake!

“Blue wake up.” He said gently, shaking his boyfriend to awakeness, he woke up and kissed him on the cheek. “Good morning.” He said sleepily, Nightmare carried him out bridal style to the living room where he set him down. 

“What's wrong Nighty? You look troubled.” Blue said worryingly as he reached out for Nightmares arm, trying to hold him back from walking away. He chuckled and pushed him down on the couch, he kissed his temple and got started on breakfast. Soon the whole house smelled like eggs which brought everyone to the kitchen to see what he was making. Horror was a little upset he didn’t cook because that was something he loved doing but seeing the way Nightmare was doing thighs he figured he needed this.

“S-s-so a-a-any of you w-want to get s-s-supplies?” Error suggested as they had run out of essentials, Killer was the first to offer to go on a run to which Cross joined as well. They planned to go after breakfast and tell nightmare.

“Breakfast is done.”

“Hey boss, we're going to go on a run.”

“Why? We have things don’t we?”

“N-n-not for l-l-long.” Nightmare thought for a moment before nodding his head to them.

“You better be careful I know people are all up in arms about us, especially right now.” Nightmare warned as his boys nodded their heads like a child to their parents. A portal appeared and Blue, Horror, and Dust waved them off. Nightmare was understandably worried since he knew Ink was one for torture and violence, it surprised him that Cross wanted to go but he didn’t question it. 

Blue, Horror, and Dust went to go watch some movies, they wanted Nightmare to join them but were pushed away as he wanted to be alone. Nightmare did some paperwork while trying to create a plan to get Dream, without getting stopped by Ink and Stretch, he didn’t want to risk his friends getting hurt so he wanted to make this a solo mission. Trying to figure out how he would leave without anyone knowing he would go at night, grab Dream, and….

“Dammit, I hate coming up with plans.” He said out loud throwing away the piece of paper he was writing on, he tried again thinking of a more thought-out plan.

Wait till night time, go to the Doodlesphere, get Dream and all of his things, try to wake him up? How was he even going to get Dream to wake up? How long were the effects of whatever Ink has been doing to him? He could only get him and see what happens. With that, he figured it was a solid plan, a few holes but he'd fix it once it presented itself.

About three hours later Error, Killer and Cross came back with supplies, Horror was relieved as they had gotten more food. Cross tried to hide a big bag of chocolate he had gotten by tucking it into his jacket, Dust noticed and tried to make a joke out of it.

“Cross did you grow a boob?” He looked down and realized it was bulging out, everyone laughed at him except for Error who went to grab the hidden goodies.

“No Error finders keepers!”

“G-G-GIVE IT TO M-M-ME!!”

“Guys please just share!” Blue added in as Killer fell to the floor holding his stomach from laughing, Cross tried to run out of the room but quickly intertwined with Errors strings and was brought back.

“I-I-I g-got those y-y-you thief.” Cross chuckled nervously as Error grabbed the bag and walked away back to his room for some peace and quiet. He grumbles and went to go sit on the couch, Killer teased him relentlessly for that one. Killer gasped and dug around the bag he got and took out a jar of healing gel looking at Blue. “If any of us get hurt you won’t have to overuse your magic now since this stuff seems to do the job for you.”

“But what if we don’t have any and-”

“Mom please you worry too much.”

“I have many reasons to worry! I am also not your mother!” Blue stated as he raised his arms up in the air dramatically, he rolled his eyes to the blue skeleton and patted him on the back.

“Relax Blue you're good that's why we're here.”

Just then Nightmare stepped in looking stressed Killer smiled and once again dug through the bag getting a tea pouch “Boss I got you your favorite tea!” 

“Thank you Killer I could really use some right now.”

“I’ll put some water in the tea kettle.” Horror said as he headed to the kitchen to put all the food away, Dust could only look and smile seeing everyone more relaxed. 

The next few days involved everyone relaxing and Nightmare working with his brother to create a plan to take him away from the Doodlesphere, Dream still stood by the fact that Ink would never intentionally hurt him much to Nightmares disappointment but eventually learned to let it go. He would find out the truth eventually. 

“Brother I think this is the perfect plan!” Dream said happily when Nightmare finished giving the details, he nodded to his brother and sat there for a moment.

“Dream I don’t know how I am going to get you to wake up, I don’t know if you can wake up.” He looked down sadly but knew this wouldn’t be very easy. He grabbed Nightmares hand and smiled at him even if he didn’t have to energy to “It’ll be okay brother you know I’ll wake up, it will just take a while.”

“Hopefully not too long, I hate to admit it but.. It has been terrible without you here.” Dream looked surprised to which Nightmare quickly looked down “Not as in I missed you but how the world seems to miss you.” He quickly stammered to which Dream laughed, he ‘totally’ believed that it was only the world that missed him.

“So it's a plan right?”

“Yes brother it's a plan, it isn’t like I can help you with this plan much like this anyways.”

Nightmare nodded his head and woke up next to Blue on his bed, he got up and prepared himself for tonight, he would finally be rid of this stupid squid. 

Blue had noticed Nightmare wasn’t acting like his usual self, at breakfast he was all smiles and even a bit giggly, he loved that Nightmare seemed happy but this was just out of the blue happy and he couldn’t understand it. Later on, in the day Nightmare was found reading a book but he knew he was actually reading the book, it was more like looking through it. Blue was definitely suspicious now but couldn’t figure out why Nightmare was all giggly like this.

“Hey, Nighty?”

“Yes, Blue?”

“Are you okay?” Nightmare nodded his head and answered he just felt happy today, he never used the word happy like that before “Nightmare are you hiding something?”

“Why would I hide anything?” Blue shrugged not knowing himself but he did know something was up, he just let it go and went on his way going to the training room with Horror. Nightmare sighed ‘that was a close one’ he thought as he went about his day like he normally would.

When nighttime arrived everyone said their goodnights and headed to their room, Blue held Nightmare close as he went to sleep. Nightmare on the other hand waited an hour or so until he knew Blue was fully asleep, he carefully maneuvered himself out of the small skeleton's hand, he kissed his forehead before heading out. Going to Cross’s room he was able to slowly open the door without a creek, Cross was fast asleep in his bed as his boss searched around. There were candy bar wrappers all over the floor which reminded him to have a talk with Cross about his unhealthy eating habits, his eye darted around the room until it landed on a small pouch with pink dust at the opening. Bingo, he grabbed it and left, closing the door even more carefully than before.

He was lucky Dream was able to give him the directions to the Doodlesphere no problem, he didn’t know who would be there so he hoped the pouch would help him not start a fight. He teleported to the Doodleshpere base but made sure he was outside of the large building. He looked around and saw the place was still lit up, he knew someone was up if the lights were still on. He used his tentacles to pull himself up into a window with no lights on, teleporting into the room he looked around and saw he was in Inks room, but he wasn’t there. Drawing and billboards covered the walls completely with broken vials all over the floor and many syringes scattered all over the place. 

“Dream, are you awake? That's not good.” Nightmare heard the familiar voice say as he carefully opened the door, Dream was laid out on the couch as Ink held his arm up, a syringe with a strange black liquid in hand. All he could do was watch as it went into his brother's arm, his body started convulsing violently as Ink forcefully held him down.

“Hush Dream Stretch is asleep and we don’t want to wake him up.” After a minute or so his body flops back down onto the couch, Nightmare was lucky he had his phone with him as he took a video of the whole thing. Ink stopped what he was doing and turned around in Nightmare's direction.

“Is someone there?” Shit. Nightmare stayed still not even daring to breathe as Ink sighed to himself and left the room, leaving Dream all by himself. He slowly made his way to his brother and looked at him horrified, his face was completely hollow as if all the life had been sucked out of him, his bones were grey and rotting. Was he even breathing? What the fuck was Ink doing? He slowly grabbed his brother and focused on not making a sound. 

`ding ding`

`ding ding`

The phone in Nightmare's pocket was blaring as he realized the ringtone was Killers, why would he be calling at this time of night?

“Wait.. that's not my phone..” Ink said as footsteps were heard heading Nightmares way, he panicked and grabbed his brother before a brush knocked him to the wall. Ink tried to get another hit in but he dogged it, grabbing the pouch he blew the powder into Ink's face and saw him go down quickly. Hearing a door open he went into panic mode. 

“Ink? Why are you up this late? I need to sleep, dude.” Nightmare stayed still, he had no idea what to do. He pretty much used all of the powder and it was all over his hands. He went to the corner of the room and hid behind a table until Stretch walked into the room. Ink laying on the floor unconscious scared the tall skeleton until Nightmare pounced on him from behind and threw his hands over his face. They struggled for a minute before he heard snoring from the tall skeleton, he left him on the floor and went to Dream.

He made sure he didn’t hit his brother and went back to the castle with him in hand.

He teleported into the living room and set Dream down slowly as the light flicked on, he turned around to see everyone glaring at him. Their eyes looked over to Dream and everyone was stunned, they couldn't even fathom what they were seeing.

“Boss, what happened, why is Dream here?” Cross questioned as Nightmare sat down next to the sleeping skeleton. Blue walked up to Nightmare and hugged him.

“Nighty why did you just leave like that? We could have helped you.”

“Everyone I'm fine trust me, I just went to get Dream but I also found something.” Everyone looked confused until Nightmare played the video, Cross, Dust, and Blue already knew that feeling and was disgusted to see Ink do that to his own friend.

“I don’t know when Dream will wake up but he seems to be the only one that can knock some sense into Ink.” Blue was angered and wanted to beat Ink for what he did, did his brother even know?

“For now I will have him stay in one of the guest rooms but he will be checked up on every hour by all of us in case something happens.” Everyone agreed and went back to it but as the two lovers got the guest room ready. Dream was placed on the pillow and was tucked in by Blue who had a million thoughts running through his head. They went back to their room and laid down.

“Nighty are you okay?”

“You asked me that earlier Blue.” He puffed up his cheeks “I know but I’m worried.. You just went and got Dream without even telling us! Do you know how dangerous that was?”

“Blue I don’t need a lecture, I know what I did and I don’t regret it, are you hurt?”

“No?”

“Then see it was worth it because no one is hurt.” 

“Except you.” Nightmare looked at Blue irritated as he just wanted to go to bed. “Okay, you are right okay, you are right now can we go to bed.”

“Nightmare that’s not what I meant-”

“Goodnight I love you.” Nightmare rubbed his eyes and forgot he had powder on himself and instantly fell asleep as Blue sighed and turned away from him. He wouldn't forget that they needed to talk about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare you should have just said something, a heads up would've been nice. The others are going to be wary now since they have to look after a coma-ridden skeleton.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
